Kenneth Decker Shearer died on Saturday, October 15, 2005, at home surrounded by his loving family. He was sixty-eight and had been diagnosed with colon cancer in 2003.

Born and raised in Lawrence, Long Island, NY, he was an honors graduate in mathematics of Amherst College and earned MLS and PhD degrees in Library Science at Rutgers University. He worked at Peninsula Public Library in New York and Detroit Public Library in Michigan and taught at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill from 1968-1974. He then joined the faculty of North Carolina Central University as professor of Library and Information Science where he taught until his retirement in 2002.

His long-standing area of expertise was the American public library and he edited the journal of his field from 1978-1988. He wrote approximately fifty articles and scholarly papers, and edited or co-edited several books, addressing research on the geography of information, text development in emerging nations, libraries and the political process, and, most recently, readers' advisory service. He also played an active role on the board of The World Library Partnership, whose mission is to establish libraries in Africa and other developing regions.

He is survived by his wife Ann Martin Shearer of the home, and their sons Christopher of Alexandria, VA; Timothy and his wife Heather Nottingham of Durham, NC; and Conan and his wife Emily of Houston, TX. He was the proud grandfather of Henry Decker Shearer of Durham, and Forrest Decker and Maya Shearer of Houston.

There will be a memorial service at the Community Church of Chapel Hill at 1 PM Saturday, October 22. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the North Carolina Central University Foundation earmarked for the Lightner-Lewis Endowment Fund which was established by his friend, colleague, and former dean, Dr. Annette Phinazee. Please make checks payable to: NCCU Foundation and note in the memo line that the gift is for the Lightner-Lewis Endowment.

Mail to:

The Shearer family may be contacted at 1205 LeClair St, Chapel Hill, NC 27517.