As the Hall County Library prepares to fully reopen in August, one section of the new Gainesville library branch will sport a new name.
The library board decided last night to name the early children's book section after the late Clara B. McCrary.
"The Hall County Commission, a couple of their members got an email request that we consider a space after Clara B. McCrary," said Library Director Lisa MacKinney at the meeting. "She was a librarian at Fair Street, very, very instrumental at promoting literacy among that community."
The Beulah Rucker Museum website said she previously had a library named after her, the Clara B. McCrary Library, on the corner of Fair and Hunter Streets, where the Fair Street Community Center is now. The museum said McCrary poured her "blood, sweat and tears into a library where students could go and read" after a tornado damaged Summer High School.
McCrary died in 2009 at the age of 100. Her obituary can be found here.
The board unanimously agreed to dedicate the early learning section of the Gainesville library branch in honor of McCrary, and discussed added a plaque or signage to further the preservation of the heritage of the Fair Street community there.
As for fully reopening, the library board said at their meeting Monday that the system will fully reopen in August. They will also loosen up their mask requirements as the county loosens their requirements, and requiring a mask for patrons ages three and up for presentations, if the presenter requests it.
