Daily photo by Brennen Smith

Memorial dedication

Decatur Public Library recently held a memorial ceremony to dedicate the library’s Alabama Room to former director Nancy Rutland Agnew Yates.

Son Bob Agnew of Birmingham, left, with Bernard Malkmus, attended the reception. Yates, who served as director from 1960-81, was instrumental in overseeing the merger of Decatur Public and Wheeler Basin libraries.

She spearheaded the construction of the current library, which was completed in 1973. Yates died in 2006 at age 92, and the Alabama Room is a tribute to her lifetime of dedication to the establishment of Alabama libraries.

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