Deaths: Yuri Nakata

Yuri Nakata was a documents librarian at UIC for 13 years.

Yuri Nakata, who retired in 1979 after serving as documents librarian at UIC’s Daley Library for 13 years, died Dec. 27.

Nakata established a collection of more than 500,000 government publications for the library and developed a model for public use of government documents. In her honor, the library established the Nakata Lectures, a series on public access to government information.

Born Yuri Ike in Seattle in 1919, Nakata attended Colorado State College after her release from a World War II-era internment camp, and graduated in 1947 with a degree in education. She moved to Chicago with her husband, Tatsuo Nakata, and worked for many years for the American Library Association.

Nakata earned a graduate degree from the University of Chicago Graduate Library School. At UIC, she was an associate professor and head of the UIC Library Documents Department. She was honored with a “Documents to the People” award by the Congressional Information Service and the Government Documents Roundtable of the American Library Association.

The couple retired to Cannon Beach, Oregon, where Nakata volunteered at her local library and initiated book and investment clubs. Upon her husband’s death in 1995, Nakata returned to the Seattle area.

A memorial service will be held Jan. 30 in Seattle.  Donations in her name may be made to American Friends, Nikkei Concerns, Wing Luke Asian Museum, the Oregon Shores Conservation Coalition, the City of Cannon Beach Haystack Awareness Program or the Park Shore Residents Association.