[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 36 (Monday, March 22, 2004)]
[Senate]
[Page S2858]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    CONGRATULATING PATRICIA SIMMONS

 Ms. MIKULSKI. Mr. President, I rise to honor Mrs. Patricia 
Simmons for her 34 years of dedicated service as head librarian at the 
National Naval Medical Center, and to congratulate her for earning the 
Meritorious Civilian Service Award. Mrs. Simmons is a lifelong civil 
servant. She has touched the lives of many in the military service with 
her love of literature and her commitment to service.
  I ask that an article from the Journal, a publication of the Medical 
Center, be printed in the Record.
  The article follows.

                   [From the Journal, Oct. 30, 2003]

                            End of a Chapter

                           (By Ellen Maurer)

       Patricia Simmons, head librarian at the National Naval 
     Medical Center (NNMC), stamped her last book this month.
       Retiring after 34 years of service at the hospital's 
     general library, Simmons was honored in a ceremony Oct. 15 
     for not only her long-term commitment to the command, its 
     staff and patients, but also for her love of literature.
       ``She loves that library and every book that makes it up,'' 
     says Cat DeBinder, an NNMC staff member who has known Simmons 
     for more than 25 years.
       RADM Donald Arthur, MC, Commander, NNMC, presented Simmons 
     with the Meritorious Civilian Service Award during her 
     retirement ceremony. The award citation detailed Simmons' 
     significant contributions, which included an improved web 
     cataloging data-base system and an internet cafe. Ironically, 
     though, those who knew Simmons best said she wasn't really 
     dependent on new technology.
       ``Pat never needed a computer . . . her unflappable data 
     base was between her ears and it never crashed,'' says 
     DeBinder. ``She carried out her responsibilities with great 
     love and true passion. She could tell you exactly where any 
     book was; lead you correctly, without hesitation, to any 
     subject and was a wizard with those little three-by-five 
     index cards.''
       DeBinder admits, however, that Simmons' familiarity with 
     the books she ``guarded'' for more than three decades did 
     have its disadvantages--if only to those library patrons, 
     like DeBinder herself, who occasionally missed their ``due 
     back'' date.
       ``Once, I had to fess up to the unspeakable. I lost a book. 
     It was an old paperback, printed in the late sixties or early 
     seventies. I think the original price was 40 cents. The pages 
     were yellowish-orange with age. The title was ``No Bad 
     Dogs.'' Pat had a very difficult time accepting the fact that 
     I lost one of her books. I begged for mercy, forgiveness and 
     I offered money. She said, `Just keep trying to find the 
     book.' ''
       Whimsically, DeBinder adds, ``Pat . . . I'm still 
     looking.''

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