Thankful for Libraries

We've rushed through the first months of the year at breakneck speed and now 2024's last days are dwindling away. With shorter, cooler days ahead and the holidays around the corner, it's the perfect time to focus on the important things in life, like the people we love and the things that bring us joy. While libraries might not necessarily be at the top of your "thankful for" list, they're wholesome, community-driven institutions that provide loads of enriching and educational services for nearly everyone. Back in 2013, a PEW report found that 94% of those polled believed that public libraries "improved the quality of life in a community". Moreover, 81% said that public libraries provided "many services people would have a hard time finding elsewhere". What's more to be grateful for? Check out what Mississippi Library Commission staff had to say below.

Working for state government can sometimes feel lonely, but when I get to see our public libraries in action implementing things we’ve discussed or getting the opportunity to brainstorm ideas over the phone, it makes it seem less isolating. I get hyped on their successes and that is what I am thankful for. 
-Lacy Ellinwood, Lead Library Consultant

I am thankful for libraries, because they gave me a place to be myself and belong. As a child, I grew up going to the library with my mother and brother. As a teenager, I walked to the library after school to hang out if I missed the bus or wanted books my school library didn't have. I was thankful for the one place that didn't cost anything to visit and let you be inside during the Mississippi Delta heat of summer: a community place where you were always safe. As a young adult in college, I saw another side of libraries when I accepted a part time position at my childhood library. I was thankful that the position allowed me to help people and to be useful to members of my community. The library offered me stability, consistency, and a support system of my fellow librarians. Libraries offer the rare commodity of true human connection. The library gave me comfort and community as a child and continues to provide the same to this day.
-Megan Fleming, TBS Outreach Librarian

I am thankful for libraries because, through E-rate funding, they provide essential internet access and technological resources to underserved communities. This support not only helps bridge the digital divide but also empowers individuals with the tools they need for education, job searching, and community engagement, fostering a more informed society.
-Sharmaine Frazier

My elementary school librarian introduced me to the love of reading in sixth grade. I fell in love with stories when she read Little House on the Prairie to us and it changed me.
-Gloria Jimerson, Large Print Direct Librarian

I am thankful for libraries because they have shaped me into the person that I am today. From childhood, I have always sought out libraries for whimsical tales or to explore new ways of existing. Libraries helped cultivate a curious nature that defines who I am.
-Mikayla Johnson, MAGNOLIA Outreach Coordinator

I'm thankful for the different books I find at my library. I love to read them and transfer myself into the stories of grand romances.
-Lorietha Myers, Library Development Assistant 

Libraries have always played a significant role in my life, filling it with beautiful memories from childhood all the way to today. I was fortunate to have parents that not only enjoyed reading for pleasure but also emphasized the importance of our public library within the community.
-Shellie Zeigler, Library Consultant

Libraries are many things to different people, but they help us all in their unique way. Let us know why you're grateful for libraries in the comments.

Elisabeth Scott
Reference Librarian

Read With MLC: Listen to an Award-Winning Audiobook

Welcome to November, and the eleventh month of the 2024 Read with MLC reading challenge! This month's prompt is to listen to an award-winning audiobook.

People listen to audiobooks for a lot of very different yet valid reasons. Some people can't see to read the words on the page, like those with blindness or visual impairments. Others, like those with dyslexia, have trouble processing the printed word. Still others, like people with arthritis or broken limbs, can't hold a book to read. Seriously, Marcel Proust's Remembrance of Things Past, the world's longest novel, clocks in at thousands and thousands of pages. (Incidentally, if you fall into one of these categories, you're eligible for MLC's Talking Book Services. You can learn more here.) Some people don't have time to sit and read a book, while others enjoy the experience of having someone read to them. Other people like to rest their eyes after a day staring at screens, and others find that the audiobook experience can be downright more enjoyable than a book that's slow or unwieldy. Truth be told, a lot of MLC staff love to listen to books! While not all of our suggestions below are "official" audiobook award winners, they are, in our hearts, exceptional audios.

A Stack, an Omnibus, A Veritable Repository

What do you call a group of librarians? While there's no official name, a large congress of librarians descended on the town of Natchez last week for the annual Mississippi Library Association (MLA) conference. MLA was officially organized 115 years ago on October 29, 1909 and is even older than the Mississippi Library Commission (MLC). (FYI: MLC was created 17 years later in 1926.) You may be wondering what a collection of librarians does at a librarian conference. Shelve your thoughts of rooms of quiet readers shushing one another and let me share the highlights of last week's memorable meeting.

Read with MLC: Retelling of a Classic

Welcome to October, and the tenth month of the 2024 Read With MLC reading challenge! This month's reading prompt is to read a retelling of a classic. Once a tale has been released into the public domain, the sky's the limit when it comes to storytellers and their ability to put their own stamp on an older work. (Want to learn more about when works hit the public domain? Check out one of our earlier posts here.)  Meg Donohue, author of the Wuthering Heights retelling You, Me, and the Sea says that, "Reimaginings present a unique delight to readers because they manage to combine the pleasure of surprising twists with the comfort of a familiar story." Whether you long to hear the "Wicked" Witch's side of the story (Wicked by Gregory Maguire) or you want to see Anne of Green Gables succeed in the modern world (Anne of Manhattan by Brina Starler), there's a retelling of a classic out there you're going to love.

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!

Read with MLC: Book in Translation

Welcome to September, and the ninth month of the 2024 Read With MLC reading challenge! This month's reading prompt is to read a book in translation. Why should we read books originally written in languages other than English? Georgi Gospodinov, winner of 2023's International Booker Prize for his book Time Shelter, says, 

When we have ears and eyes (and a translation) for the story of the Other, when we hear and read it, they become a person like us. Storytelling generates empathy. It saves the world. Especially a world like the one we live in today. We write to postpone the end of the world. And the end of the world is a very personal thing. It happens in different languages. Translation gives us the sense that we are working towards this postponement together.

Still, when some people think of translated fiction, their thoughts may immediately turn to dry, ponderous tomes that have no connection to their lives or interests. Luckily, the staff at the Mississippi Library Commission have shared some of their favorite works in translation below.

Support Your Library with a Snapshot!

Have you ever wondered what goes on at your local public library? Do you wish you could support them more, but just can't seem to find the time? Snapshot Day, a yearly celebration of the power of Mississippi libraries, is the perfect opportunity for you to explore.