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With a lump in my throat, I must report that Renate has retired from the University. Her last day at work was Friday. She has been planning this for a while, but blood-swore us to absolute secrecy until she was gone. She specifically would not allow any kind of party or celebration of her many years of service. She was hired in September 1966 as a part-time library assistant in the cataloging department. Over the years, she was both part-time and full-time and even took a 6 year break from 1975 to 1981. Through it all, she epitomized the mission of the Z Smith Reynolds Library: to help our faculty and students succeed.

I only knew her for five years, but she made a definite impression on me as a new Director. She took my modest idea of keeping the library open 24 hours during exam week and turned it into the Wake the Library extravaganza that we now know and love. It was her idea to go out and raise money to serve food to the students and she did it with style. She was also the first chair of the Marketing Committee to invent the Library Lecture Series. She called in favors from a number of faculty to come and speak in the library and set the precedent for our current, highly successful events. These are only two of her many, many contributions to ZSR. She was the face of the Library to several generations of Wake Forest faculty, staff and students. I invite others to give their remembrances and tributes to the incomparable Renate!