Small but mighty

The incoming president of the American Medical Library Association used this phrase to describe the MLA in comparison with some other professional associations. However, in a room with over 2500 other librarians (scary thought) I couldn't help feeling that the power of our combined knowledge and experience was pretty mighty! Then I got to thinking about the power of one. Each one of us has the power to do something big and this conference is all about seizing that power. A news item I saw the other day illustrated this perfectly: a bug flew into the open window of a moving car. The woman driver waved her hands in panic as the cicada flew into her face. Unfortunately she also stepped on the gas. The car careered down the street, demolished a fire hydrant and flooded the entire neighbourhood, causing chaos for several hours and leaving everything mud-caked. The clean-up operation will take weeks. All that because of one tiny bug........

Debra Thornton