Frances Fornal, whom friends and colleagues remembered as the "heartbeat" of the Passaic Public Library, died Sunday evening. She was 64, and the cause of death was kidney cancer, said her daughter, Michele Fornal.

Mrs. Fornal started working in the children's room at the Julius Forstmann Library in 1973, where she organized puppet shows and read stories to children.

Although Mrs. Fornal never graduated from high school, she earned her general equivalency diploma while working at the library.

In the early 1980s, she was promoted to become secretary to the library director.

Colleagues remembered Mrs. Fornal as a woman they called "Mom," because of her willingness to lend an ear, and who was devoted to knowledge through the printed word.

"She was the heartbeat of the library," said former Library Director David Robertson. "If you wanted to know an anything about the library, she knew it -- statistics, circulation, volumes purchase."

As the secretary to the director, Fornal wrote business letters on a beige manual typewriter, because she distrusted technology. Hers was the first voice patrons heard when the library had only one phone line, before an automated system was installed in 2004.

She kept track of the tens of thousands of books that entered the library's circulation through what colleagues said was her own elaborate, idiosyncratic system.

"She was not the most ardent supporter of the great advances of technology, but she ran her office very well," said Mark Auerbach, a library trustee and board president during part of Mrs. Fornal's career. He said she could always put her finger on any information. "She was like a living global positions satellite."

She collected Newbery and Caldecott award-winning children's books, her daughter said. She recalled her mother "bursting into tears," when, three years ago, she had brought home "Santa Mouse," a favorite children's book that had been out of print.

In 2004, Mrs. Fornal retired from the library. Her daughter took over her position -- then running the library's business office.

"She taught me to remain professional at all times," Michele Fornal said, adding, "She learned the ropes even though she wasn't formally taught."

Mrs. Fornal was born Frances Penk on Nov. 22, 1943. She grew up on the east side of Passaic, the daughter of a Puerto Rican-born mother and German-born father. When she was 2, her father died suddenly and she lived with her mother in a tenement apartment under meager circumstances, Michele Fornal said.

She married Passaic native Ronald Fornal, a custodian in the city's Department of Public Works.

She was an active member in the St. Stephen's Elementary School's Parent Teacher Association.

Mrs. Fornal is survived by her husband, Ronald, of Clifton; three children, John Fornal of Forked River, Kenneth Fornal of Clifton and Michele Fornal of Clifton. She is also survived by two grandchildren, Jessica and Nicole Fornal.

Funeral services are today at 10 a.m. at the Allwood Funeral Home at 660-670 Allwood Road, Clifton.