For nearly 30 years Melzetta Laws presided over an island of calm in a tough northwest Atlanta neighborhood astride what was once called Bankhead Highway, later renamed Donald Lee Hollowell Parkway.
She was manager of the Dogwood branch of the Atlanta Fulton Public Library, and she ran a tight ship.
The current branch manager, Debra Perry of Atlanta, said Mrs. Laws was a stickler for neatness and organization. "She treated staff and patrons with gentleness and firmness, and they responded to that with fond respect," Ms. Perry said.
She said she considered Mrs. Laws a mentor who helped her become a branch manager. "She gave me useful pointers -- things like how to lead staff and the best way to set up a children's section," Ms. Perry said.
Mrs. Laws was a classy lady, Ms. Perry said. "She carried herself well and dressed fashionably -- just what you'd expect of a graduate of Spelman College."
Irma Echols of Union City, a former Dogwood branch assistant manager, said Mrs. Laws was an excellent supervisor. "She was easygoing, but no pushover. Occasionally some patrons mistook her kindness for weakness, but she would stand her ground and tolerated no unruliness in the library."
E. Paulette Smith-Epps, former supervisor of all Atlanta Fulton Public Library branches, looked on Mrs. Laws as a pioneer.
"As one of the first African-American library professionals to move up in the Atlanta Fulton Public Library system, she opened doors for those of us who followed," she said.
Mrs. Smith-Epps said she used Mrs. Laws as a sounding board to help work out problems she encountered.
"Mrs. Laws was one of the most humble people I've ever known," she said. "She possessed a wealth of knowledge but never lorded it over others. In a discussion of library policy with other managers and administrators, she would listen politely, then come up with a gem of wisdom to help the rest of us resolve a difficult situation."
Mrs. Smith-Epps recalled that in the early 1990s a new Dogwood branch was being planned, to be located directly across Donald Lee Hollowell Parkway from the building Mrs. Laws had managed so long. The discussion got contentious until Mrs. Laws spoke up in her quiet fashion and said, "This is not the way our children use our library," and proceeded to tell the group how the new library should be set up.
Melzetta "Mel" P. Laws, 90, of Atlanta died of respiratory failure Tuesday in Budd Terrace at Wesley Woods. Her funeral will be at 11 a.m. Saturday at Friendship Baptist Church, with interment to follow at South-View Cemetery. Carl Williams Funeral Directors Inc. is in charge of arrangements.
Born and reared in Atlanta, Mrs. Laws attended Atlanta University's Laboratory High School and graduated from Spelman College with a bachelor's degree in English and from Atlanta University with a master's in library science.
In retirement, Mrs. Laws and her husband of 65 years, former Morris Brown College professor Eddie Laws, who died last November, crisscrossed the United States visiting distant relatives and friends.
A niece, Myrtle Williams of Missouri City, Texas, said both Mr. and Mrs. Laws patronized restaurants all over Atlanta.
"When I would visit Aunt Mel and Uncle Teddie, it was their custom to take me out to eat," she said. "It seemed to me that whatever the restaurant was the people there would greet the two of them like they were regulars."
Even after they moved into an assisted-living facility a couple of years ago, Mrs. Williams said, her aunt and uncle would routinely call for a taxi on many evenings to take them out for their supper.
Also surviving are several other nieces, nephews and cousins.
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