More Than Meets the Eye: Why You NEED a Library Card

When's the last time you visited a public library? Libraries across Mississippi have oodles and oodles of fantastically fun resources for you, the patron, to use. There are 53 library systems with 234 libraries in Mississippi ready and waiting to serve you and, as September is Library Card Sign-up Month, now is the perfect time to step foot inside one of these local community hubs. Why should you visit a library? Well, there's more to them than meets the eye!

Libraries help with critical services:

• Notary Publics
  Libraries like the Bolivar County Library System offer this service free of charge to their patrons.
  
  
• Wifi
  It may sound simple, but free wifi is an essential resource many people go without. Libraries across the state, like the Benton County Library System, offer this free service to their patrons.
  
  
• Questions answered
  Want a factual to a burning question? Many libraries offer reference services; librarians help you find answers to all sorts of questions. Best yet? Some libraries, like the Long Beach Public Library, offer this service via a text service they call Gabbie so you don't even have to talk to a human.
  
  
• Laptops
  Some libraries, like the Laurel-Jones County Library System, have laptops available to check out. Patrons can take them home for two week periods.
  
  
• Printing
  Need something printed but don't own a printer? Most libraries, like the Marshall County Public Library System, offer copying services for a small fee.
  
  
• Fax
  Many medical professionals require that you fax documents to them. People rarely own fax machines anymore, but most public libraries, like the Marks Quitman County Public Library, do.
  
  
• Test proctoring
  Some libraries, like the Greenwood-Leflore Public Library and the Madison County Library System, offer test proctoring services. This can be incredibly helpful for distance learning students.
  
  
• Study rooms
  Sometimes you need a small, private place to study. Enter the study room! Some libraries, like The Library of Hattiesburg, Petal, and Forrest County, have them available for patrons to reserve.
  

Libraries help you explore the world:

• Language learning programs
  Libraries across Mississippi offer different language learning services. First Regional Library System, which serves DeSoto, Lafayette, Panola, Tate, and Tunica Counties, offers Transparent Language. Choose the foreign language you want to learn and get ready to blend in with the locals.
  
  
• Smartphone classes
  If you just got a smartphone, or just need to brush up your skills with new features, libraries like the Meridian-Lauderdale County Public Library offer classes to help you out.
  
  
• Digital literacy classes
  Connecting online can be just as important as connecting in person. Digital literacy classes from places like the Sunflower County Library System help teach those skills to patrons who need them.
  

Libraries help you unwind:

• Free music
  Libraries like the Central Mississippi Regional Library System, which provides library services to Mississippians in Rankin, Scott, Simpson, and Smith Counties, give their patrons access to Freegal Music. Freegal has millions of songs for you to download, stream, and sing along with.
  
  
• Free movies
  Harrison County Library, among other libraries in Mississippi, provides access to Kanopy. Kanopy has thousands of movies available to stream, all from the comfort of your own home.
  

Libraries help you grow:

• Resume help
  Need to upgrade your resume before you search for a new job? The Columbus-Lowndes Public Library System offers Cypress Resume to their patrons to help them get ready for better employment opportunities.
  
  
• Computer classes
  Have trouble operating a computer? Libraries like the Waynesboro-Wayne County Library System offer computer classes to help you learn how to use your desktop and laptop. 
   
• STEM learning
  Many libraries offer educational materials that are fun to engage with while they teach kids essentials. The Yalobusha County Library has a wide selection of STEM toys to get minds thinking and stimulate learning.
  
  
• Pre-K learning
  Do you have preschool-age children? Some libraries, like the Warren County-Vicksburg Public Library, partner with Excel by 5 and have a Parent Resource Center dedicated to getting children ready for kindergarten.
   
• Educational VR
  Have you tried virtual reality? Libraries like the Wilkinson County Library System offers virtual reality headsets for immersible educational experiences for children.
  
  
• eLearning
  Many libraries, like the Jackson-George Regional Library System, offer access to sites like Universal Class to their card holders. Patrons can log on from their home computers to take one of over 600 classes. Some even offer CEUs! Another learning site, BrainFuse, is offered by other Mississippi libraries like the Lamar County Library System.
  
  
• Autism Resource Center
  Libraries like the Jackson/Hinds Library System offer specialized services to help their patrons with autism grow and learn. They can help with everything from learning job skills to helping reinforce IEPs.
  
  
• MAGNOLIA
  Every single public library in Mississippi offers access to MAGNOLIA databases. These databases let patrons access reliable, academic peer-reviewed journals not available through regular Internet searches. (MAGNOLIA is also available to Mississippi students through their public schools, colleges, and universities.)
  
  
• LearningExpress Library
  This is another great service available to all Mississippians through their public libraries. LearningExpress offers test and career prep tutorials and practice tests in a wide variety of subjects.
  
  

Libraries help get your creativity flowing:

• Sewing kits
  The Northeast Regional Library System, which serves Alcorn, Prentiss, Tippah, and Tishomingo Counties, offers various crochet, loom, and knitting kits to check out so that their patrons can learn at home.
  
  
• LEGO club
  Building with LEGOs builds creativity, and many libraries, including the Pike-Amite-Walthall Library System have begun clubs featuring the popular building bricks.
  
  
• Craft programs
  Libraries regularly hold programs to help you learn a fun skill or craft. The Carroll County Public Library System held a program earlier this year that saw old T-shirts converted into beach bags. How economical and useful!
  
  
• Writer's Groups
  Have you always wanted to be an author? The public library could be the perfect place to start! Libraries like the Choctaw County Library System hold monthly sessions for local writers to work on their craft and share their words.
  
  
• Art shows
  Libraries love to show off your creations! The Humphreys County Library recently held a showing of local artists at their building.
  

Libraries help you connect with the past:

• Local Records
  The Carnegie Public Library of Clarksdale and Coahoma County Public Library connected with a company to provide access to digital copies of marriage records and newspapers in the county.
  
  
• Oral history
  The Noxubee County Library System was one of several sites chosen statewide to host an oral history project in 1999. All of these records can be obtained from the library, as well as the Center for Cultural Heritage and Study at the University of Southern Mississippi.
  
  
• Ancestry.com
  Libraries across Mississippi, including the Tombigbee Regional Library System, which serves Clay, Monroe, and Webster Counties, offer access to the genealogy website Ancestry.com while in their buildings. Find your ancestors with census records, passenger lists, and much, much more.
  
  
• Heritage Quest
  Many libraries in Mississippi, including the Pine Forest Regional Library System, which serves Greene, Perry, and Stone Counties, and the Covington County Library System, offer their patrons access to Heritage Quest. This genealogy research website can be accessed from your own home.
  
  
• Yearbooks
  You'd be surprised what you can learn from an old yearbook! The Neshoba County Library System has begun digitizing old Neshoba County yearbooks for their patrons to use.
  
  
• Local History Departments
  Many of our Mississippi libraries, like the Washington County Library System, operate local history departments with books featuring county history and records.
  

Libraries help you get healthy:

• Sporting Equipment
  Libraries have all sorts of programs and activities to help you keep in shape, like the bicycles available to be checked out at the Union County Library System and the pickleball sets available from the Hancock County Library System.
  
  
• Seed Libraries
  Many Mississippi libraries, including the Lee-Itawamba Library System, have set up seed libraries for their patrons. They've resourced quality seeds to help fill your gardens and your cupboards with healthy fruits, herbs, and vegetables.
  

Libraries help you be social:

• Meeting rooms
  Many libraries, like the library for Yazoo County, B.S. Ricks Memorial Library, have meeting rooms available for clubs and small groups.
  
  
• Book Clubs
  Many libraries offer book clubs as a way to bond over shared reading experiences. Some libraries, like the Pearl River County Library System, have taken it a step further, and offer cookbook clubs, where patrons share recipes from cookbooks they've read.
  
  
• Programs
  The variety of programs you'll see at your local public library is endless and all public libraries have them. For instance, the Judge George W. Armstrong Library, which serves Adams County, has an upcoming game day featuring multiple gaming systems and a variety of board games.
  
  
• Summer Library Programs
  Libraries across the state offer Summer Library Programs like this one at South Mississippi Regional Library, which serves Marion and Jefferson Davis Counties. These programs offer engaging learning activities all summer long to help you and your kiddos combat the summer slide.
  

Libraries help you read:

• Books, books, and more books
  Your library has books. Physical books you can browse and take home to read to your heart's content. Libraries like the Tallahatchie County Libraries love to show them off, so be sure to drop by your local library to peruse their collection.
   
• Interlibrary Loan
  There's no possible way for an individual library to buy every single book in the world, but there's a great way to get around that. Many libraries, like the library that serves Port Gibson and Claiborne County, the Harriette Person Memorial Library, offer interlibrary loan services. If you want to read a book that they don't have, they'll get it for you from another library system.
   
• Storytime
  You may still have fond memories of library storytime when you were a child. Nearly all libraries still offer this type of program for preschoolers and other aged children, including the Kemper-Newton Regional Library System.
  
  
• eReaders
  Some libraries, like the Lincoln-Lawrence-Franklin Regional Library System, offer Kindles to check out, so you can be an eReader, too.
  
  
• eBooks and audiobooks
  Libraries across Mississippi offer access to eBooks and audiobooks through various platforms. The Starkville-Oktibbeha County Public Library and the Dixie Regional Library System, which serves Calhoun, Chickasaw, and Pontotoc Counties, have the Freading eBook service, the Blackmur Memorial Library offers hoopla, Elizabeth Jones Library, which serves the city of Grenada, has Libby, the Mid-Mississippi Regional Library System, which serves Attala, Holmes, Leake, and Winston Counties, offers CloudLibrary, and the East Mississippi Regional Library System, which serves Clarke and Jasper Counties, has Overdrive. There are so many great ways to read, so be sure to ask your library what they offer.
  
  
• Personalized reading services
  Many libraries, like the Copiah-Jefferson Regional Library, will help you out if you can't figure out what you want to read next. All you have to do is tell them the types of books you usually enjoy; they'll take care of the rest!
  
  
• Little Free Libraries
  Libraries gotta library, even when they're closed. The Sharkey-Issaquena Library System has been closed to the public since a devastating tornado destroyed their building in March of 2023. Not to be defeated, neighboring library systems stepped in to help meet the needs of Sharkey and Issaquena County residents. Better yet, the library reopened its own Little Free Library earlier this year (ahead of their building reopening) so they could offer books to resident a little bit closer to home.
  

All of our Mississippi libraries have something valuable to offer you; you only need to ask to find out what they have. Plus, if you see a service another library offers, you may be able to get that started at your library. Like they say, it never hurts to ask! There's so much happening at your local library that we could never share it all here. Don't forget: a great way to show your support for libraries is to use them. Continued use equals continued library services across the state.

Elisabeth Scott

Reference Librarian