ODA says goodbye to Glendy Huene and renames library

The day was overcast as Out-of-Door Academy librarian Glendy Huene and 90 staff members walked towards the library from their end of the year school meeting Wednesday, June 5 for a surprise reception and library name unveiling.

A family donor gave the school two new signs renaming the library to the Glendy Huene Library/ Media Center for Huene’s retirement after 30 years at ODA.

“Thank you for being an ODA legend and we will never forget you,” said Head of School David Mahler.

Huene moved to Sarasota with her husband Skip in 1981 who worked as  a drudge engineer at the time. 

Her husband remembers helping Huene construct puppet show theaters out of large appliance boxes in Corpus Christi and has cooked up 40 dozen eggs for Dr. Seuss’s Birthday where Glendy reads Green Eggs & Ham to children. Huene has brought love and devotion for the past 30 years where she knows the name of every single student in the lower school.

“Her love for children and literature has inspired countless numbers of ODA students to love reading and learning,” Mahler said.

She has helped build the lower school library program with events like Sleepy Time Story Time, Book Swap, the Book Fair and Dr. Seuss’s Birthday.

“It’s been a wonderful ride,” Huene said.

Huene and her husband have a bucket list they plan on completing now that both of them are retired. The couple will visit Europe in the fall and next year plan to road trip across the United States to visit national parks.