Dr. Anthony Chow

School of Information Director

A hearty welcome and good evening to everyone. Thank you to all graduates, their friends and families, and all of our faculty, staff, and administration, and distinguished guests for joining us tonight.

We did it. So let's take a few minutes to congratulate all of our graduates with us tonight.

One of my favorite movie quotes is from Saving Private Ryan, where an elder Private Ryan in the first scene, opening scene, says, "I hope I have lived a life that has honored your sacrifice." Tonight, my remarks are dedicated to my father, who recently passed away unexpectedly, and whose life and memory I try to honor each and every single day.

As an immigrant from China, he came to the US for a better life as a young college student. He met my mother and as we say, the rest is history. They ended up having two children, my brother and I. And growing up as an immigrant family, libraries were a cornerstone of our lives, books, movies, documentaries, a safe space to explore, and endless adventures, all for free.

As a married graduate student couple with children, they didn't have a lot of disposable income, and the library was our refuge, our place of adventure. I'm proud to say that my father lived a full life through hard work and serving as a dedicated husband and father. He led a life that was well lived.

Some lessons I want to impart to you are in honor of his memory:

First, make sure you also live a life well lived. We don't know when our end will arrive, and so make sure to set aside time to embrace and relish the things that make you happy, make you laugh, and bring you joy. Make sure this is also done, honor and respect to others.

Second, make sure you tell your loved ones frequently how much you love and appreciate them and care for them, and that certainly includes our pets and friends and relatives.

Third, libraries and ALA professionals bring so much joy, comfort, and serve as a safe space and place for people of all walks of life. My parents learned how to use computers at their public library in Florida. It served a core role in our quality of life across the lifespan, and especially as they retired.

Fourth, I am proud to say through the SJSU iSchool's IMLS grant entitled Reading Nation Waterfall, which is building book ecosystems for Native American children and communities in five tribes nationally, and I also want to recognize, Sophia LaMonica, who has been a project manager and co-conspirator over her time with us at the iSchool. We're building book ecosystems for Native American children and communities in five tribes nationally. We created a new program called Reading Nation Waterfall Sunrise in partnership with the Unite for Literacy, Little Free Library and the National Indian Head Start Directors Association, which should add close to 20,000 books in those ecosystems for Native American children in memory of my father.

My father lived a life where giving and providing for others was his primary priority and contribution. And this is similar to the iSchool's philosophy. And in particular, we have a saying, which is information is everything. With the focus on serving others, helping people solve problems and helping increase their quality of life, or providing access to vetted high quality information, services, programming, and resources. This is such an incredible opportunity and privilege to serve others as ALAs professionals. And certainly given the times that we live in now, our profession could not be more important.

In conclusion, all of our new graduates are empowered with your new degree to move forward in your careers and lives. We stand on the shoulders of those that have come before us and we honor their memories and sacrifices every day by helping others in solving problems head on with strength, courage, vigor, and integrity.

As you grow strong in your careers, remember it is an increased opportunity to also help even more people. Congratulations on earning your degree and we are honored to have been a small part of your life's journey. Do keep in touch. Let us know how you're doing. Let us know how we can help you as you progress through your assuredly successful careers. Remember, all great things are earned by facing and working through a lot of challenges, solving a lot of problems, and continue to grow and learn through our mistakes. Work hard, be kind to others, and live a life well lived. It's your time now to do great things and we know you're up to the challenge.

Thank you.