Billy Graham rededicates library

CHARLOTTE, N.C., April 21 (UPI) -- Ninety-one-year-old evangelist Billy Graham was "sharp of mind and heart" as he celebrated the reopening of his library in Charlotte, N.C., an aide said.

Tuesday night's event marked Graham's first public appearance in Charlotte since May 2007, when former presidents Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton and George H.W. Bush joined him in opening the library.

The 12,000-volume library had been closed since January for improvements to the sound system and the addition of a mural by artist Thomas Kinkade.

Graham's wife, Ruth, is buried on the library's grounds, which have been visited by an estimated 288,000 people since the library first opened, The Charlotte (N.C.) Observer reported Wednesday.

Graham, who visited his wife's grave Tuesday, tires easily and moves about in a wheelchair but is doing well, longtime Graham aide David Bruce said.

"He does deal with the challenges of advanced age," Bruce said. "But he's sharp of mind and heart."