‘Today is the Day for Hugs’

Vic Chapel Full for Lisa Sherlock Celebration of Life

By Leslie Shepherd

Friends, relatives and colleagues remembered Chief Librarian Lisa Sherlock at a Celebration of Life in Victoria College Chapel for her kindness, selflessness, friendship, wisdom and accomplishments—as well as her love of shoes and ability to buy the perfect gift.

Sherlock, chief librarian of Victoria University Library since 2013, died in hospital on Victoria Day, May 20. One week later friends, colleagues and family filled the chapel to share memories.

Victoria University President Dr. Rhonda McEwen said that Sherlock had all the qualities that are valued at Vic—“that kindness, that simple smile, that reaching out to make someone feel welcome and making them feel like they were already part of something bigger.”

Former Vic U President Paul Gooch said that naming Sherlock chief librarian of Victoria University Library was one of the best appointments he ever made “because of Lisa’s quiet, rock steady, uncompromised and intelligent devotion to her calling.”

Sherlock spent almost her entire post-secondary education and professional life at Victoria University and the University of Toronto. She earned a BA in English from York University and a Master’s in Library and Information Sciences degree and a Master of Arts degree in English Language and Literature in 2001 from the University of Toronto. She joined the E.J. Pratt Library in 1993 and became head of Reader Services in 1999 and chief librarian in 2013.

Isabel Zhu said that Sherlock was both her mother and her friend.

“To have a mother who is also a best friend is a rare thing and the effort she took to raise and care for me has ineffably shaped my character, aspirations, relationships, tastes, passions and values.”

She described how her mother loved to travel so she could learn more about art and cross museums off her must-see list.

“She always moved onward and sought new and beautiful things, anything from clothes, shoes— she loved shoes—music and, most of all, new things to read and art to enjoy.”

Zhu said her mother’s goal to visit all the major museums of the world was “a reflection of her lifelong commitment to the study, appreciation, production and consumptions of culture and beauty.”

Larry Alford, chief librarian of the University of Toronto Libraries, described Sherlock as a “dedicated and respected librarian” who “deeply valued and was dedicated to preserving and building on the world-renowned collections housed in the Victoria College libraries.”

Sherlock was also a published scholar with a special interest in William Blake, the English painter, poet and printmaker. Last year she had an article published in Blake: An Illustrated Quarterly.

Professor Gooch, the former Vic U president, said that words were not enough today to express the grief people feel over Sherlock’s death. But, he said, we can grasp firmly the things that she loved, so that “her love will not end but will grow and multiply.”

Sherlock loved books. “Increase that love in the books you take up to read, the books you buy for gifts, the books you cherish for their very materiality,” Gooch said. “Hug your books.”

She loved bringing the past into the present, preserving and interpreting artifacts and archives. “Don’t be seduced then by the blinkering distractions of the present. Honour the past, which has brought us to today.”

She loved the literary imagination, so “reject a world that cannot see beyond the graphs and algorithms of self-interest.”

Above all, she loved others, family, friends, and colleagues.

“We can no longer hug her, but we can reflect her love by hugging each other,” Gooch said. “Today is the day for hugs.”

Click here for the full-length version of this story. Read more about Sherlock’s life and memories and testimonials from friends, family and colleagues.

Photos: Peg McCarthy