Final IFLA2010 post - a farewell to Bob McKee
I am finally writing a post about my last day of IFLA2010, as it turned out to be a sad day with the news of the death of Bob McKee, Chief Executive of CILIP reaching a few of us that day. The closing ceremony in Gothenburg with Abba singing “Thank you for the music” and photos of Bob enjoying the conference were part of that farewell, prior to the official announcement a few days later.
We all have library colleagues that make a difference in our lives, and whose passing give us cause to stop and remind ourselves of the gift of life. Bob influenced so many people within different communities - the library community and the political community are just two. The September IFLA Presidential Newsletter and links to other comments really do capture the essence of Bob’s character. I, like many others at IFLA2010, enjoyed hearing about his plans for retirement, world travel and his ongoing IFLA contributions, including the IFLA Building Strong Library Associations programme.
In his last blog post Bob mentions the ALIA National Year of Reading 2012 campaign - Love2Read. Bob and many of my Management of Library Associations section colleagues helped me with a set of videos during the conference. It’s Bob’s funeral today and I mark the occasion - with the videos from 12 August 2010, a reminder that ‘Life is too short’ and a glass of good Australian red wine (because Bob always celebrated with a glass of something).
Sue Hutley, ALIA Executive Director
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