Helms to receive community service award

Mary Helms, associate director of the McGoogan Library of Medicine, displays a badge from one of her volunteer events. For her many volunteer endeavors, Helms will be given the 2007 UNMC Spirit of Community Service Award.

For Mary Helms — community service indeed comes with all the good feelings often associated with giving one’s time for a worthy cause — a sense of purpose and gratification in being a positive force in a community.

But there’s another aspect of the work not typically associated with volunteering that keeps Helms, associate director of the McGoogan Library of Medicine, signing up for service commitments.

“I find service work to be incredibly enjoyable,” said Helms, who will receive the UNMC Spirit of Community Service Award during the chancellor’s annual faculty meeting April 24. “I wouldn’t do it if I weren’t having fun.”

Helms first got into community service in the early 1990s when she moved to Omaha from St. Louis.

Mary Helms Associate director of the McGoogan Library of Medicine Bachelor’s degree in English, 1977, North Dakota State University Master’s degree in library and information science, 1981, Simmons College Master’s degree in management, 1989, Webster University Has been a librarian at four medical libraries

Aside from being able to contributing to important causes and organizations, Helms also found volunteering was a wonderful way to plug into a new community.

“You meet like-minded people, you attend fun events and you do work you believe in,” Helms said.

Her long list of service endeavors includes volunteer work with Planned Parenthood of Nebraska and Council Bluffs, the American Heart Association, Omaha Public Library, Fontenelle Elementary School and the Sundance Film Festival in Utah.

“Mary’s commitment to community service is genuine, deeply rooted and has benefited a broad array of community interests,” McGoogan Library Director Nancy Woelfl, Ph.D., wrote in a letter nominating Helms for the award. “I believe Mary deserves this award because she has touched so many areas of the community.”

Amid the fun and social aspects, Helms never loses track of the important fact that the work she does is meant to benefit people and communities.

“People who volunteer for community service are the people who get things done,” Helms said. “You always hear about these wonderful events, during which money is raised for good causes, well those events are successful because of volunteers.”

Today her community service involvement includes positions with the Omaha Public Library’s Board of Trustees, The Presenters — a group that supports the Holland Center For Performing Arts, the Nebraska AIDS Project, the Fontenelle Nature Association and several others.

Much of her work deals with fund raising for the various organizations she works for. She also helps organize events, such as an annual book sale for Fontenelle Elementary School.

“What can I say, I’m a librarian, I like to organize things and I like books,” Helms said.

One of Mary Helms’ community service activities is an annual book sale that benefits the Fontenelle Elementary School Library. Helms says, “What can I say, I’m a librarian, I like to organize things and I like books.”

Karen Mallory, library media specialist at Fontenelle, said Helms’ efforts result in about $1,000 worth of books being added to the school’s library each year

“This gift of books has definitely made a difference in the lives of Fontenelle students,” Mallory said.

Dr. Woelfl said Helms has an unmatched understanding of logistics and that’s part of what has made her so valuable during her community service endeavors.

“If UNMC ever confers a Master of Logistics degree, Mary should be first in line to receive it,” Dr. Woelfl said.