A woman of rare substance

by Sandra George (deceased) 02.MAY.08

Mrs. Lorna Small,
In your profession you stood tall;
With your dedication you inspired all;
With merely a building you started;
On development you insisted.

Service to the public was your watchword
As you pulled the institution forward.
Surely, it was not easy in your day;
But you showed, “where there is a will, there is a way”.{{more}}

You wanted nothing but the very best;
And today we rank first in the OECS.
It came with hard work and cooperation
Led by your selfless determination.

Mrs. Small, that special woman was you
With zeal, your dreams came true.
A fountain of ideas you were.
Yes, in you, one found a reservoir.

With the move upstairs, you started a Reference.
It progressed mainly through your perseverance.
Today, we boast a Vincentian, CXC, West Indian,
A General Reference and Black Studies Collection.

In a meagre 4,000 square feet,
You created a service that was complete.
With space for lending and for reference,
You even made room for relaxation.

With little funding you kept it going.
Some say it has been your magic;
But really, it is your tenacity of spirit.
You soared above normal circumstances,

By changing difficulties into challenges.
It was no wonder that you were made Director!
Your love for the Library was an over-riding factor.
Your enthusiasm, wisdom and your temperament
Kept you for thirty-seven years in this Department.

The plans that you conceived, daily,
The skills you demonstrated, clearly
Led most of us to believe, surely,
Your destiny was in the Library.

Often, your staff heard your utter:
“Small need not mean inferior”
The habit of reading, you said, was edifying,
You extended library service to many rural districts
And to serve them properly,
You acquired a mobile library.

You were never bound by four walls.
You were propelled by a philosophy of service to all.
During the 1980’s you cradled many changes:
The Department of Libraries, Archives and Documentation Services
The Archives is not fully realized;
But you are determined that it will survive.

So from many a ‘discarded’ document,
You have retrieved archival content.
To this nation you’ve given yeoman service;
Expression of love for all you have shown it,
Through hard work you have built what we now see:
An Integrated Library Service for SVG.

Taken from “Let’s Celebrate”. A souvenir magazine published by the Friends of the Library Committee in 1993 in commemoration of 100 years of library service in St. Vincent and the Grenadines.