A Visit from the Institute of Museum and Library Services

Jennifer Peacock

Administrative Services Director

The Mississippi Library Commission (MLC) receives federal funds from the Institute of Museum and Library Service (IMLS) through the Library Services Technology Act (LSTA) Grants to States program. In order to receive these funds, MLC must have a federal five-year plan in place that provides direction for how these funds will be spent. Once during each five-year plan, the program officer from IMLS assigned to Mississippi comes for a site visit. These site visits are three days long, with the first day at MLC viewing records and talking with various MLC staff about the goals of the Five-Year Plan and how they are carried out. The next two days are on the road visiting libraries that have received LSTA subgrants to see how the funds are used in the communities in Mississippi.

From left, MLC Executive Director Hulen Bivins, IMLS Senior Program Officer Dennis Nangle, IMLS CFO Chris Catignani, MLC Library Services Director Tracy Carr, and MLC Administrative Services Director Jennifer Peacock

Jennifer Peacock, who serves as both Administrative Services Director and LSTA Coordinator, and Susan Liles, PR Director, accompanied the IMLS program officer for Mississippi, Dennis Nangle, and another IMLS employee, Chris Catignani, who was scheduled to be in town for an event on Friday, so he came early to tag along on the site visit.

Text to Checkout at the Bovina Grocery

The site visit consisted of seven stops covering the central part of the state and showed both small, rural areas with smaller library systems as well as larger systems. First was a quick stop in Bovina where a pilot program called Text to Checkout is located in the Bovina Grocery. The next two days encompassed stops at the Warren County-Vicksburg Public Library, Humphreys County Library System, Madison County Library System, Noxubee County Public Library, Mid-Mississippi Regional Library System, and Central Mississippi Regional Library System. In each of these systems, the directors were able to highlight the projects that LSTA funds had helped them to roll out over the past several years and explain the impact it had on their patrons and communities.

Chris, Dennis, and Jennifer with Warren County-Vicksburg Public Library Director Katrina Stokes

Jennifer, Chris, and Dennis with Humphreys County Library System Director Sidney Cobb

Madison County Library System (MCLS) staff David Jackson, MCLS Director Tonja Johnson with Chris

Noxubee County Public Library Director Shameka Conner with Jennifer, Dennis, and Chris

Chris, Jennifer, and Dennis with Mid-Mississippi Regional Library
System Director Josh Haidet and Youth Services Librarian Lindsay Fitts

Chris and Dennis with Central Mississippi Regional Library System Director Mara Polk

Special thanks to Katrina, Sidney, Tonja, Shameka, Josh, Mara, and their staff for welcoming us and taking the time to help advocate for all Mississippi libraries by showing the importance of the federal funding MLC receives and the impact it has both statewide and in the local communities.

Chris, Jennifer, Dennis, and MLC PR Director Susan Liles

Save Libraries, Save Museums, Save IMLS!

Maybe you've seen the proposed national budget for FY20 and maybe you haven't, but it eliminates federal funding for the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). That means essential programs provided by libraries and museums across Mississippi will no longer have the money to continue. This covers everything from your local public library, your child's school library, and university libraries to the Delta Blues Museum, the Mississippi Museum of Art, and the Mississippi Children's Museum. It also means that LSTA grant funds, which launch innovative programs across the state and are distributed by IMLS, will no longer be available. Both Loida Garcia-Febo, president of the American Library Association, and Kathryn K. Matthew, director of the Institute of Museum and Library Services, have issued responses regarding the proposed budget, and people across the country are rallying to our museums' and libraries' defense.

We want you to join the fight to fund museums and libraries. Take a look below at a small sample of Mississippi public library programs funded by IMLS in the past few years. Then click the Dear Appropriator letter at the bottom of the page to send an email to your congresspeople urging full funding of IMLS.

Lee-Itawamba Library System

The Lunching with Books program, made possible through LSTA grant funds, is a vital resource for information and socialization of learners who can no longer visit the library due to physical disabilities, advanced age, and/or lack of transportation. In order to serve these citizens, the library purchased the necessary equipment to record, archive, and live-stream the programs to offsite patrons. The program can be viewed at any time from the Lee-Itawamba Library System website. The library partnered with a local retirement home to screen the program on-site in a common area. Live-streaming the program off-site allowed patrons no longer able to attend in person the ability to actively participate in educational and entertaining library activities. This library system is in Mississippi's Congressional District 1, which is served by Representative Trent Kelly.

Sunflower County Library System

The Seniors Acquiring Computer Skills and the Senior Adults Moving Forward in Technology programs at Sunflower County Library System were designed to provide computer skills training to senior citizens who want to become computer literate. Using LSTA grant funds, the library provides computer literacy classes for small groups in slowly-paced sessions. Attendees learn essential basic computer skills, like word processing in order to produce letters and forms, spreadsheets to track financial information, and Internet competency, including search skills and database usage. After a sixteen-week training period, participants are able to use everything from email to Word and beyond, critical skills for the 21st century. This library system is in Mississippi's Congressional District 2, which is served by Representative Bennie Thompson.

Central Mississippi Regional Library System

New Maker Space Kits, acquired with LSTA funds by the Central Mississippi Regional Library System, travel back and forth between their 20 branches. The Makey Makey Kit, Snap Circuits Kit, Video Maker Kit, Strawbees Kit, and Jewelry Tool Kit emphasize STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math) activities for K-12 through adult patrons. Every age group served has been excited and eager to learn and explore with the kits, making this an incredibly successful idea. These items give Mississippi citizens an understanding of how circuitry works and help them understand how to apply this new knowledge in their everyday lives. This library system is in Mississippi's Congressional District 3, which is served by Representative Michael Guest.

Laurel-Jones County Library System

An Early Childhood Library Development Center project garnered LSTA grant funds for the Laurel-Jones County Library System. It enables both libraries in the system to provide a fun and safe area where children can learn through imaginative play. The centers have an assortment of building blocks, interlocking and connective toys, matching and sorting games, and puzzles. These activities teach young patrons basic math and language skills, hand-eye coordination, counting, color and letter identification, motor skills, and social interaction skills. This library system is in Mississippi's Congressional District 4, which is served by Representative Steven Palazzo.

These programs, which cater to a wide range of interests, target people of all ages and walks of life. If you think that the learning, cultural, and social opportunities Mississippi libraries and museums provide are critical to keeping our citizens on the cutting edge of society, then help us out. Contact your congressperson and ask them to sign the Dear Appropriator letter. Then share this post in your email, on Facebook, or however else you reach your friends and family, and ask them to do the same. Thank you!

MLC is Proud to Support Mississippi's Public Libraries

Hulen Bivins
Mississippi Library Commission
Executive Director

With the conclusion of Fiscal Year 2018, a final accounting by the Mississippi Library Commission (MLC) shows that over 7 million dollars of support was provided to the state’s 53 public library systems. These funds were provided as direct grants, competitive grants, and via statewide services. Of the total amount provided, the State of Mississippi was the source of $6,737,643, with the balance of the funding provided by the federal government under the Grants to States program administered by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS).

Using state funding, direct grants provided employee benefits throughout the state to library staff members; these funds also enabled each of the 53 public library systems to maintain a highly qualified, masters-degreed professional as the library director, thereby enhancing the services of each public library. Further, with competitive grants, public libraries were able to create and expand new services while maintaining traditional services. The MAGNOLIA information database collection is an example of a statewide service that is provided by public libraries through state funding and made available to every citizen.

The federal dollars received from IMLS supported a variety of services, such as the procurement of new public computers, community reading programs supported with new book titles in a variety of formats, continuing education activities, development of STEM programing, and cooperative activities with K-12 schools, community colleges, and universities.

Following the tabulation of monies as reported for the fiscal year, MLC Executive Director Hulen Bivins noted that, “In all of the activities enumerated, the Mississippi Library Commission has worked with the state’s public libraries to both strengthen and enhance library services for the benefit of the state’s citizenry. This work has provided homework aid, business development assistance, and a furtherance of knowledge regarding issues in the fields of finance, law, and medicine. The achievements accomplished are a direct result of the cooperation and tremendous work of the 53 public library systems in using the funding made available by MLC in an efficient, cost-conscious manner.”