Saturday, September 12th at the 22nd annual SEPL Foundation Reverse Raffle, the SEPL Foundation presented J. Victoria (Vicki) Eckenrod with the Jett & Lillian Mohr Service Award. The SEPL Foundation established the award in 2014 to be presented annually at the reverse raffle and auction. Its purpose is to recognize an individual or group who has significantly supported the Seneca East Public Library or the SEPL Foundation. Learn more about the award HERE.
Vicki Eckenrod is a 5th generation Attican and the daughter of the late Victor and Virginia Ayres. She graduated from Seneca East in 1975 and Bowling Green State University in 1979. She later received a Masters in Library Science from Kent State University in 1989.
She began working at the Seneca East Public Library in 1985 and was part of many changes that happen during her 23 years there. In the early 1990s, the first computers were put into the library and in 1996 the State Library of Ohio put Internet connections in all public libraries. Not long after, several libraries, including ours, joined together and wrote an LSTA grant in order to automate their libraries and join the SEO consortium. She was there on December 21 st , 1991 when the library fire occurred and was able to write an LSCA Construction grant to build the new building. She was very active in Ohio Library Council events and was one of two rural, Ohio librarians to be sent to Seattle to participate in a national conference on Internet Connectivity in Rural Libraries. In 2008, she was offered the Directorship of the Galion Public Library. It was bittersweet to leave but it was an opportunity she couldn't pass up.
Ms. Eckenrod credits the late Mrs. Doris Bunn (previous Director at Attica) and the late Ms. Patricia Hillmer (previous Director of the Tiffin-Seneca Public Library) for mentoring her and passing on their love of libraries. She thanks the SEPL Board of her day for hiring her and giving her a wonderful career. Ms. Eckenrod retired from the Galion Public Library in June of this year after 35 years in public libraries.