Honoring Fallen Librarian, Hero

Cynthia Hurd may have passed on, but her name will live for quite some time in West Ashley and beyond.
Not only did Charleston County Council vote this week to rename the St. Andrews Library branch in her honor, but a fund has been set up in her name to benefit the two public county libraries she managed in her 31-year career, St. Andrews and the John L. Dart branches.
Hurd was one of nine parishioners slain two weeks ago, allegedly by a 21-year-old white supremacist with a cupcake haircut, during a Bible study at the historic “Mother” Emanuel AME Church downtown.
County Council moved faster than usual to rename her last branch, located in a copse of trees behind a shopping mall off of Sam Rittenberg Boulevard. Council chairman Elliot Summey was first to publicly suggest this soon after the shooting.
Hurd’s family is establishing a memorial fund in Hurd’s name at the Charleston County Public Library, with donations going to promote educational programming at both of the aforementioned branches.
Donations can be sent to: Charleston County Public Library, c/o Cynthia Graham Hurd Memorial Fund, 68 Calhoun Street, Charleston, S.C., 29401. Information will soon be in place at www.ccpl.org for those who wish to donate electronically.