A reception will be held Thursday, Oct. 29, in honor of Luverne Public Library Director Rene Lester, who has resigned from her position to accept a similar position in Elizabethtown, Kentucky.

And for Mike Jones, Chairman of the Library Board of Trustees, the reception will be bittersweet.

“Rene has done so much for our library throughout these years—more than people probably realize,” Jones said. “I really hate to see her go.”

Lester will be the new Library Director at the Hardin County Public Library, a much larger facility within a county of over 96,000 residents.

Serving as the director for the Luverne Public Library since 1993, Jones said that Lester has been instrumental in overseeing the growth of the facility since its days in the old library building located on Glenwood Ave.

“We have definitely come a long way since then,” Jones said. “When we first built the new library in 1996, there were no computers in it, and she worked closely with the Gates Foundation and basically brought us into the computer age.”

Lester has also been one of the first library directors in the state of Alabama to implement wireless Internet at a public access point, via the Luverne Public Library, something that many people may not be aware of.

“Rene has been very proficient and successful in writing grants,” Jones added. “The library has received a lot of grant money through her efforts, and we want her to know how much we appreciate her for that, and for all of her hard work over the years.”

Everyone is invited to attend the reception, which will be held at the library from 4-5:30 p.m. and wish Lester a fond farewell and good luck in her future endeavors.