Cheryl Hamill – long time fixture in Australian health libraries is exiting stage left ⬅️

by Rob Penfold | Feb 26, 2026 | News

Many health librarians in Australia are well aware of Cheryl’s contributions over many years

She has won a number of awards including the ALIA Fellowship 2013 & the HCL Anderson Award 2020 and published quite extensively

She has decided to hang up her (Dockers) boots and swap Libkey Nomad for Grey Nomad

(in the image, Cheryl is on the left with an unknown art gallery attendant on the right)

Her most ardent parting wish is that anyone who hasn’t yet completed the HLA 2026 Survey takes the time to do so

As many librarians are frustrated authors, perhaps the best send off is a Cheryl Poem (by a health librarian who obviously has too much time on his hands …)

An ode to Cheryl, on her retirement (HCL Anderson redux)

There once was a health librarian named Cheryl,

Whose name was not amenable to limerick writing,

Unless she had colleagues named Beryl, or Meryl,

And they co-authored papers, and were diligent in citing.

Still, even if the rhymes elude a limerick,

The HCL Anderson award is worthy of something poetic.

A sonnet in MeSH, perhaps, announced with a gong,

Or NLM classification reworked as the Dockers theme song.

I know. A Haiku!

It’s True, I do know haiku.

See, told you I do.

But back to Cheryl, and all that she does,

For WA, and HLA, and NLA, and ALIA;

For committees and sub-committees and all their paraphernalia;

And, well, frankly, for all of us.

(Sidenote – ALIA is not the Australian Liquor Industry Association…

although that would explain some MARC records I’ve seen – boom-tish!)

But back to Cheryl, and all that she does,

In collecting and parsing and sharing,

And building and joining and supporting,

And setting an example for all of us.

There cannot be a PubMed search string she has not run,

An interdisciplinary comment thread she has not begun,

A publisher price she has not negotiated down,

Or an uppity rep she has not run out of town.

So all hail Cheryl, a paragon of the profession,

Even if she would be appalled by this digression.

Fare thee well in your deserved retirement,

As you pen your memoirs on digital parchment.

No more battling the traffic on Canning Highway.

No more worrying if your job can be done by AI.

No more union claims frustrated at every turn.

No more desire to watch the (publishing) world burn.

No more finding all the full-text… except one!

No more search updates to be redone.

No more fighting mildew in the basement stacks.

No more downtime after more cyber attacks.

Just a new hip to go with the other one

And a new caravan to chase the sun.

Plenty of reading and a Europe trip or two,

A Dockers flag to pine for and some Weagles to boo.

The money is the same but the hours are better.

As one road ends another will lead wherever.

Dream a  new dream and say goodbye to tension,

Set a new goal and say hello to your pension.

All hail Cheryl, a paragon of the profession,

The legacy she leaves is a lasting impression.

Health and libraries are richer for her contribution,

And all of us blessed by her friendship and dedication.