Read with MLC: Library eBooks

Elisabeth Scott
Reference Librarian 

While print still reigns supreme (75% of Americans read a print book in the past year), eBooks continue to soar in popularity (30% of us read an eBook in the last twelve months.) Libraries have been loaning out eBooks since the late 1990s, and even though they've had their challenges with publishers, eBooks and libraries are a match made in heaven. That's why we chose to designate October our #ReadWithMLC month to check out an eBook from your library.

Just how do you dive into the wealth of eBooks at your library? And what even qualifies as an eBook? It helps to know what you're looking for. Some librarians call anything that's electronic an eBook, bringing eAudiobooks, eComics, and eMagazines into the mix. Others are more fixed in their definition, only classifying text-based novels and nonfiction as eBooks. We tend to fall in the eEverything camp, so here are a few of the most popular eLenders Mississippi libraries use.

• hoopla digital
  This eBook lending platform is currently available at every public library in Mississippi. Make sure your library card is up to date; you'll need it to access the three titles available to you every month. Tip: hoopla has binge passes available each month. These passes let you access as much content of a certain type for a whole week. Current binge passes include classic funny papers, magazines, and an R.L. Stine spine chillers collection.
• Libby (Overdrive)
  If you've tried hoopla but need more books, check to see if your library has Libby. This app lets you place holds if the title is checked out, much like a real library. Many libraries across Mississippi give you access with your library card, including Jackson/Hinds, Madison County, and the entire Mississippi eBook Consortium. Tip: Libby lets you create notes and highlight favorite lines while you're reading so you'll be all ready for book club discussions.
• cloudLibrary (Bibliotheca)
  While currently only available at two library systems in Mississippi--Central Mississippi and Mid-Mississippi--that's nine counties that have access to these eResources. This service is very similar to hoopla and Libby. Tip: cloudLibrary users can borrow from other libraries. Just think of all those books!
• BARD
  BARD, or Braille and Audio Reading Download, is a specialty app that serves those who are unable to read standard print due to a visual, physical or organic reading disability. There's a huge selection of current and older literature, as well as children's books. Tip: If you own a braille eReader, you can download braille books from BARD directly to your device, just like with your Talking Books.
  
• MAGNOLIA and LearningExpress
  If you thought these two educational powerhouses were only for looking up articles and taking practice tests, think again! Scholarly books on a variety of subjects are waiting for you in MAGNOLIA, like Magill's Medical Guide and Salem Press Encyclopedia. Many of the topics covered on LearningExpress include an eBook or two on their subject, like ACT Power Practice and Algebra Success in 20 Minutes a Day. Tip: Everyone in Mississippi has access to these through their public library. You don't even need a card!
  

We've come a long way since eReading started skyrocketing twenty years ago, and we're convinced that they're only going to get more popular. If you need ideas for your next great eRead, fill out our quick and easy Bookmatch questionnaire and click the box to join in on the #ReadWithMLC fun. And hey, we're forever grateful that we're no longer trying to read eBooks on our flip phones, like some of the examples from this 2003 NBC clip.

You've Got a Friend...

Elisabeth Scott

Reference Librarian

Winter, spring, summer, or fall, all you have to do is call, and the Friends of Libraries will be there to help! Carole King lyrics aside, we wanted to give Friends of Libraries groups across the state an effusive and grateful thank you this National Friends of Libraries Week. These groups are essential to the vitality and growth of libraries across Mississippi. Registered as charitable organizations with the Secretary of State's office, Friends groups do a lot of nitty-gritty work for libraries. They are heavily focused on fundraising, yes, but also on connecting the community with their local library through hands-on volunteer work. We encourage you to reach out to your local library to join their Friends group. If they don't have a Friends group, you might consider starting one for them. Work with your library and use the resources listed here to start a Friends group or help your current group grow.

If you're already involved and think your Friends group is amazing, you should nominate them for one of two annual awards given by the Friends of Mississippi Libraries yearly at the Mississippi Library Association annual conference. Nominations typically begin each August.

This year's winner of the Chapter One Award, given to a local Friends group for outstanding volunteer contributions in the area of service to libraries during the year, went to the Friends of Winona-Montgomery County Library and was accepted by president and former librarian Virginia “Bootsie” Weed. Under her leadership, the Winona-Montgomery Friends funded a wildly successful community gardening extravaganza led by Felder Rushing during this year's National Library Week. Aside from hosting this and many other author events for adults, the Winona-Montgomery Friends have also assisted with programs for children. The library's annual pajama party wouldn't have been the same without their gift and snack bags. This Friends group also supplied much-needed blinds for the library's meeting room, adding versatility and a new look for the space.

The winner of this year's Ruby Assaf Presidential Award, which honors an outstanding individual volunteer for a local Friends chapter, was Friends of Madison Library president Jean Garrett. She is an active patron of the Madison Library and frequently recruits new members for their Friends group. Also on the Board of Trustees, Garrett has driven the effort for exterior repair and cosmetic work at the library and has now turned her gaze to the interior of the building. She also led a grassroots effort to persuade the Mississippi legislature to leave access to public libraries unfettered.

Another great resource for Friends groups in Mississippi is the annual, competitive Margaret Murray Grant. This grant honors former MLC employee, Margaret Murray, who helped start over 100 local Friends groups in Mississippi. This grant is currently open and receiving applications. Funds awarded should be used to advance library programming and literacy at the Friends' library. The application deadline is February 29, 2024; grantees will be announced April 1, 2024. 

If you want to get more involved in the impact your public library has on its community, the Friends will be there, yes, they will. (Sadly, songwriter and singer extraordinaire Carole King will not actually be there.)

MLC's Book Club Guide to the American Southern Vampire

Katie Gill
Cataloging Librarian

This post originally broadcast on MLC Moments on Mississippi Public Broadcasting.

What do you think of when you think of vampires? Most people think about Count Dracula, the tall, imposing, Eastern European, prototypical vampire—the sort who lives in a castle and dines on the blood of young women, who’s repulsed by a cross or garlic, and who can only be killed by driving a wooden stake through the heart. Mention Dracula, and that’s a cue for everybody to do their best or worst Bela Lugosi impression—“the children of the night, what beautiful music they make.”

Happy Birthday, Fannie Lou Hamer!

Katie Gill
Cataloging Librarian

This post originally broadcast on MLC Moments on Mississippi Public Broadcasting.


This October, take time out from your pumpkins, spooky movies, and pumpkin spice lattes to celebrate the birthday of a Mississippi civil rights leader. 

 

 

 

Fannie Lou Hamer was born on October 6, 1917 in Montgomery County, Mississippi. She grew up in poverty. At age 6, Hamer joined her family picking cotton and at age 12, she left school to work. In summer 1961, Hamer attended a meeting led by activists from SNCC, the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee, and SCLC, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Inspired by the organizations and incensed by Black Mississippians’ routine disenfranchisement, Hamer became a SNCC organizer. On August 31, 1962, she led 17 volunteers to register to vote at the Indianola courthouse. The group was denied the right to vote due to an unfair literacy test and were harassed by police as they left the courthouse.

In June 1963, Hamer and several other Black women were arrested for sitting in a whites-only bus station in Winona. In the jail, Hamer was brutally beaten, which left her with lifelong injuries, kidney damage, and leg damage. The next year, 1964, Hamer co-founded the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party, MDFP. The party challenged the local Democratic party’s efforts to block Black participation. Hamer and other MDFP members went to the Democratic National Convention that year to stand as the official delegation from the state of Mississippi. In 1968, Hamer’s vision became reality, and she was a member of Mississippi’s first integrated delegation.

In 1964, Hamer unsuccessfully ran for a seat in the U.S Senate. She continued to work on local programs, such as grassroots Head Start programs and Freedom Summer, a region-wide drive to help with Black voter registration in the American South. In 1969, Hamer started the Freedom Farm Collective, which bought up lands that Blacks could own and farm, provided housing development through services like financial counseling and a housing agency, and started a “pig bank,” providing free pigs for Black farmers to raise and breed.

Hamer was a notable orator. Though her deep accent often led others to judge her as “uneducated,” Hamer’s strong oratorial style and “tell it like it is” type of speaking drew crowds. One of her most famous speeches was at Williams Institutional Church in Harlem, New York, on December 20, 1964. In this speech, Hamer talks about her work in voter registration and the abuse she endured due to it. She attacks American life and culture, saying that change is needed in Mississippi, in Harlem, and in greater American society. Her work has been collected in a book by the University Press of Mississippi, titled The Speeches of Fannie Lou Hamer: To Tell it Like It Is. She published her autobiography, “Praise Our Bridges,” in 1967, with help from Julius Lester and Mary Varela.

On March 14, 1977, Hamer died of complications from hypertension and breast cancer. She was buried in Ruleville, Mississippi and her tombstone is engraved with one of her most notable quotes: “I am sick and tired of being sick and tired.” Her primary memorial service was completely full. An overflow service, held at Ruleville Central High School, had over 1,500 people in attendance. All across America, schools, post offices, and libraries bear her name.


There have been plenty of books written about Fannie Lou Hamer. Some notable biographies written about her include Until I Am Free: Fannie Lou Hamer's Enduring Message to America by Keisha N. Blain and Walk with Me: a Biography of Fannie Lou Hamer by Kate Clifford Larson. Younger readers can learn more about Hamer with the picture book Voice of Freedom: Fannie Lou Hamer, Spirit of the Civil Rights Movement written by Carole Boston Weatherford and illustrated by Ekua Holmes. These books, and others, can be found at your local Mississippi public library.