Everyone's life has a story. In "Lives," we tell some of the stories about North Shore people who have died recently. "Lives" runs Mondays in The Salem News.
BEVERLY — No matter how many times longtime children's librarian Nancy Bonne read the children's book "Goin' Someplace Special," she began to cry.
"Even when she told friends about the book, she started to cry," Bonne's daughter Susan Long of Cape Elizabeth, Maine, said.
The book by Patricia McKissack tells the story of a young black girl in the 1950s who encounters racism from Jim Crow laws during a journey through the city of Nashville. It isn't until she arrives at the library, which quietly desegregated, that the main character is welcomed with open arms.
"Right when the book came to the part of them saying that the library is the place where everyone can go, she would cry," Long said of the children's book.
Bonne, who died July 13 at 76 years old, spent her life making libraries a place where anyone, especially children, can go — even as far away as India.
"She just loved children. She loved books and she loved children and it was the perfect fit for her," Long said.
Bonne died in Sikkim, India, where she was helping to build a school library at an English-speaking school. Just after breakfast, Bonne collapsed in her bedroom.
"A nurse happened to be visiting resource people (for the school) but she couldn't bring her back," Long said.
Mourners in Sikkim, which is nestled in the Himalayas, spent an entire day mourning Bonne in a daylong funeral that began at 9 a.m. and lasted until 8 p.m.
The funeral began with a Christian priests performing a service at Bonne's residence near the school. A procession of Buddhist monks through the town followed, ending in a ceremony where the cremation was done.
Born Aug. 19, 1933, in Buffalo, N.Y., she was the daughter of an Army engineer. Her mother was a church organist.
She moved around a lot as a child, including many towns in the South which gave Bonne a Southern accent at times, especially when she was singing.
Bonne was always in the church choir, and she served in many leadership positions at First Congregational Church of Rockport, including moderator.
She started working in the library at Rockport Elementary School while her children were attending school there. She moved to Beverly Public Library almost 25 years ago and became the head children's librarian after she received her master's in library science from Simmons College when she was 58 years old.
"She was awesome. She was just one of the best. She sort of was a mentor not just to myself but a lot of librarians in the North Shore," said Linda Furey, who works in the children's room at Beverly Public Library.
The reason was that Bonne knew just about every children's book in circulation. For example, if you were trying to find a particular book about sailboats with a yellow cover.
"She'd run and grab it and it would be the right book. She had an amazing memory," Furey recalled.
While parents appreciated her memory skills, the kids valued her performance skills.
During story hour, Bonne would perform each character with a different voice and build the excitement to the story's climax.
"It was great hearing her read. I'd like to listen when I could. She had huge crowds," Furey said.
While working at the library, Bonne would often see two brothers, Aka Denjongpa and Pintso Lauenstein, after school, working on their homework.
Through the years, Bonne got to know the brothers and their parents well. When the brothers became adults, they returned to the library with their plans to open up a school, Taktse International School, in their father's homeland in Sikkim.
The Beverly library had recently removed hundreds of children books from the shelves for being worn and damaged but they were given a knew life at Taktse.
"From the beginning she helped them with the library because they wanted the library to be an important part of the school," Bonne's daughter said.
Bonne traveled to the school in 2009 accompanied by Long and her family. She helped build the library and taught the parents the importance of reading to their children.
"In India, parents don't read to their children. It's a radical concept," Long said.
A memorial service for Bonne will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday at First Congregational Church of Rockport.
When preparing for the service, Long asked her son what kind of flowers they should have at the church.
"My son said 'Grandma doesn't like flowers. Grandma likes books,'" Long recalled.
Those attending the service can bring their favorite children's book to be displayed at the service or donated to the Taktse School.
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