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Women of Clark County

Clarabelle Hanley Decker

1900 - 1984

“There’s more to being a librarian than knowing books.”

Clarabelle Hanley Decker, often referred to as the “Mother of Clark County School Libraries,” dedicated her life to education. She taught in public schools in Arizona, Nevada, and California before becoming Clark County’s first Supervisor of Libraries. Decker took part in establishing forty libraries within the county.

Dedicated to life-long learning, Decker received her Bachelor of Arts degree from Northern Arizona State Teachers College (now Northern Arizona University) and later earned degrees in English, school supervision, and library sciences. After retiring from the Clark County Supervisor of Libraries position, she went on to teach at Northern Arizona University. Alongside her work as a teacher and librarian, Decker wrote for many professional journals and took part in several professional organizations.

In recognition of her significant contributions, Clark County school officials honored her in 1978 by naming Clarabelle H. Decker Elementary School after her.

Pictured: Clarabelle Hanley Decker, 1939. University of Nevada, Las Vegas Photograph Collection. UNLV University Libraries Special Collections & Archives.

Sources

• M. A. Duvall, ed., Skirts That Swept the Desert Floor: One Hundred Biographical Profiles of Nevada Women in History, vol. 1 (Las Vegas: Stephens Press, LLC, 2006).
• University of Nevada, Las Vegas. University Libraries. Special Collections and Archives. “Guide to the Clarabelle Decker Papers,” 2018. http://n2t.net/ark:/62930/f15011.

For questions or comments, please reach out to the Clark County Museum at ccmuseum@clarkcountynv.gov.