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Rochester Hills
Hero Story
Christine Hage has produced lasting change in the community in which she lives in many ways. As a library director for more 40 years at 3 different libraries, Christine’s accomplishments include starting one of these libraries nearly from scratch, which involved developing the first formal budget and hiring and training a staff of 110 members. While this was a paid position, Christine’s involvement in library work in many other capacities is not. It is hard to put into words the impact that her work as a member of the American Library Association and the Michigan Library Association has made. As chair or president of many different committees, groups, and task forces, Christine’s work has been a catalyst for growth and professional development among librarians. One of the ways in which this can be seen is through her leadership in organizing or helping plan large conferences of thousands of librarians. She has also spoken on behalf of the Public Library Association, which is made up of 9,000 members. Christine has dedicated much of her life to service and finds great reward in committing a lot of this service to library work. In Christine’s own words, “Everybody in the community is respected and should be reflected in the library.” Her passion is to help people improve themselves by giving them the tools, opportunity or exposure so they can be the best they can be, and her work in the arena of libraries has done just that.
While Christine has tremendously impacted the landscape of libraries and library work in our area, she has also volunteered in many other roles, including as leader of a refugee resettlement team, which supported one refugee family through their first year of resettlement in the United States in partnership with Samaritas, one of Michigan’s largest refugee resettlement agencies. Christine led this team with purpose and much success, and the family they sponsored is now self-sufficient and assisting multiple other newly arrived families in their resettlement journey. Not only did Christine lead this team, but she also formed it, mobilizing and inspiring others to get involved, which in the end resulted in a team of more than 20 people that raised a total of $25,000 in support of this family. Christine also helped the father of the refugee family write his story and organized opportunities for him to share it at churches and the local library. This in turn inspired others in the work that Christine and her team were doing in support of refugees in the local Rochester, Michigan area. Indeed, Christine’s life is a reflection of the Rotary Club’s motto, a Club of which Christine has been a part of for more than 30 years: “Service above self.”
Rochester Hills
Hero Story
Christine Hage has produced lasting change in the community in which she lives in many ways. As a library director for more 40 years at 3 different libraries, Christine’s accomplishments include starting one of these libraries nearly from scratch, which involved developing the first formal budget and hiring and training a staff of 110 members. While this was a paid position, Christine’s involvement in library work in many other capacities is not. It is hard to put into words the impact that her work as a member of the American Library Association and the Michigan Library Association has made. As chair or president of many different committees, groups, and task forces, Christine’s work has been a catalyst for growth and professional development among librarians. One of the ways in which this can be seen is through her leadership in organizing or helping plan large conferences of thousands of librarians. She has also spoken on behalf of the Public Library Association, which is made up of 9,000 members. Christine has dedicated much of her life to service and finds great reward in committing a lot of this service to library work. In Christine’s own words, “Everybody in the community is respected and should be reflected in the library.” Her passion is to help people improve themselves by giving them the tools, opportunity or exposure so they can be the best they can be, and her work in the arena of libraries has done just that.
While Christine has tremendously impacted the landscape of libraries and library work in our area, she has also volunteered in many other roles, including as leader of a refugee resettlement team, which supported one refugee family through their first year of resettlement in the United States in partnership with Samaritas, one of Michigan’s largest refugee resettlement agencies. Christine led this team with purpose and much success, and the family they sponsored is now self-sufficient and assisting multiple other newly arrived families in their resettlement journey. Not only did Christine lead this team, but she also formed it, mobilizing and inspiring others to get involved, which in the end resulted in a team of more than 20 people that raised a total of $25,000 in support of this family. Christine also helped the father of the refugee family write his story and organized opportunities for him to share it at churches and the local library. This in turn inspired others in the work that Christine and her team were doing in support of refugees in the local Rochester, Michigan area. Indeed, Christine’s life is a reflection of the Rotary Club’s motto, a Club of which Christine has been a part of for more than 30 years: “Service above self.”