But on Saturday, Dec. 7, the new librarian did not feel well and went to the hospital. Diagnosed with a rare blood disease, McCloud died four days later, shocking the people who had welcomed her to Sarasota in July.
“Shocking is too mild a word,” said Sarabeth Kalajian, director of Sarasota County libraries. “We were very blessed to have Alice. She made me laugh every time we talked.”
The loss was an unexpected second blow to the library, as McCloud, 61, had arrived this summer to take over after the former North Sarasota librarian, Yvette Robison, died last year. McCloud came here from the San Francisco library system, but was a Florida native and returned to be near her aging mother and hometown of Opa-Locka.
There, at McCloud’s memorial service on Saturday, Kalajian learned more about her friend, as well as hearing some things she already knew.
McCloud was gregarious and funny, as everyone who met her knew, and liked to tell stories about her family, her hometown and her childhood. But she was also courageous in the view of her family. After growing up in a tightly knit community where many stayed their whole lives, she struck out on her own and traveled the world, sometimes with friends and sometimes alone.
McCloud graduated from Georgia State University, worked as a math teacher in Dade County, and later moved on to manage three libraries in San Francisco. The job allowed her to travel, including trips to London, Paris, Switzerland, and several island nations.
This year, she looked toward her home in Florida again, as she felt her mother was getting older and could use more attention. Two of McCloud’s four sisters are also still in the area.
McCloud beat out two dozen other applicants for the North Sarasota job and quickly became a part of the community. She liked working with new employees at the library, encouraging them especially when they seemed to struggle.
For Amanda Morrison, a new hire fresh out of library school in upstate New York, McCloud was a mentor.
“I had looked forward to spending quite a lot more time with her,” Morrison said. “She made an investment in me, and I’m really distressed that she won’t see how I turn out.”
In turn, Morrison was a favorite of McCloud, who talked about her often, Kalajian said. “Alice just really, really, enjoyed working with her, encouraging her. She took pride in that.”
Sarasota lost another dedicated librarian in McCloud, Kalajian said. Even in her final days, during hospital visits, McCloud talked for hours about the things she could do at the library.
“That was one thing about Alice: She could talk,” Kalajian joked. “She definitely had big plans. She had a big laugh. That’s one of the things we’ll miss about her.”
Article source: http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20140101/ARTICLE/140109976/-1/sports?Title=Librarian-is-eulogized-for-her-humor-and-hope