MISSISSIPPI LIBRARY ASSOCIATION

News

  • Thursday, August 29, 2019 4:05 PM | Anonymous

    The Columbus-Lowndes Public Library System received a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities to go towards its Local History Department. The project, titled "Focusing the Camera’s Lens: Assessing and Preserving Lowndes County, Mississippi’s Photographic History", allows for a professional conservator to create a preservation assessment of the archives photographic collections, along with the purchase of some preservation supplies to rehouse them. The Endowment received 102 eligible applications; the budget allowed for 45 awards. 


    Submitted by

    Mona Vance-Ali

    Archivist

    Columbus-Lowndes Public Library System


  • Thursday, August 29, 2019 3:55 PM | Anonymous

    After a short hiatus, First Regional Library’s Words on Wheels BookWagon will soon be back on the road.

     

    An extension of FRL’s branches, the BookWagon offers a unique and free early literacy experience for preschool-age children in DeSoto, Lafayette, Panola, Tate and Tunica counties.  Meridith Wulff took on the role of Regional Youth Specialist on May 1, 2019 and is the Words on Wheels visit coordinator and BookWagon driver. Children and their teachers and/or caregivers will board the BookWagon for engaging early literacy programming. Afterward, teachers and caregivers may check out age-appropriate books and other library materials as well as resources for parenting and teaching young children.

     

    The regular service priorities are childcare centers in FRL’s service area, but the BookWagon will also appear at community events and library programs as availability allows.  Visits are requested via First Regional Library’s website. “Our communities have missed seeing the Words on Wheels BookWagon on the road,” said Wulff. “I’m so excited to bring early literacy and the love of books to the children in our area.”


    Photograph by David Brown


    Submitted by David Brown

    Brand & Marketing Strategist

    First Regional Library


  • Thursday, August 29, 2019 3:25 PM | Anonymous

    On July 5, Gunter Library at the University of Southern Mississippi Gulf Coast Research Laboratory (GCRL) in Ocean Springs sponsored a “Paint the Can” event for the students taking classes in the Summer Field Program. Six students participated. The cans are being placed at the Marine Education Center at Cedar Point and at the main GCRL campus located adjacent to East Beach. Students received participation awards including tee-shirts, visors, usb drives, and posters of Gulf of Mexico fishes. Partners for this event included: GCRL Physical Plant, City of Ocean Springs Public Works, Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Consortium, and East Beach Specialties. Gunter Library sponsored a similar event in July 2005, but those cans were washed away in Hurricane Katrina.


    Photograph by Joyce M. Shaw


    Submitted by Joyce M. Shaw

    Head Librarian & Professor

    Gunter Library


  • Thursday, August 29, 2019 3:10 PM | Anonymous

    Mississippi State University Library’s Digital Preservation and Access Unit is pleased to announce the following additions to our digital collections:


    Lincolniana Statuettes (29 new items):  These statuettes are comprised of painted plaster or bronze, depicting Lincoln in various stages of his life, as well as other Civil War era scenes.  (https://msstate.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p16631coll18/search/searchterm/statuettes%20%26%20figurines/field/class/mode/exact/conn/and/order/title/ad/asc)


    The Charles J. Faulk Jr. Collection (1919 items):  These are photographs taken and collected by Charles Johnson Faulk, Jr. (1915-1990), Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and executive editor of the Vicksburg Evening Post (Vicksburg, Mississippi). The photographs document numerous significant events and aspects of civic life in and around Vicksburg, including parades, Pilgrimage, fairs, pageants, community theater, businesses and prominent citizens. (https://msstate.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p16631coll23/search/order/title/ad/asc)


    Pamphlets from the Frank and Virginia Williams Collection of Lincolniana (194 pamphlets):  These contain hundreds of original political tracts, speeches, pamphlets, broadsides, and other printed works from the 1830s to the 1920s.  Included are original printings of Abraham Lincoln speeches made in the Illinois House of Representatives, copies of the Lincoln/Douglas debates, General Orders issued during the Civil War, and Republican Party tract’s organizing African American voters during Reconstruction. (https://msstate.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p16631coll25/search)


    Dr. Todd A. Herring Collection (23 items):  Dr. Herring, a graduate of MSU, who began collecting historic material while in elementary school, and has donated a portion of his collection to Special Collections.  The complex collection contains documents and artifacts on a wide variety of subjects including Early America and European manuscripts, early American newspapers, plantation culture in MS and LA, and records of enslaved persons.  (https://msstate.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p16631coll26/search)


    Stennis Weekly Radio Addresses (303 items):  Part of the CPRC, this new

    addition contains weekly Radio Addresses from the 1950-1970s, covering a wide range of political topics during Senator Stennis’ tenure.  (https://cdm16631.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p16631coll27/search)


    T.H. Smith Postal collection (3 items):  Mr. Smith was an architect and amateur postal historian from Jackson, MS.  These postcards, letters and other materials cover the history of the postal service in MS from statehood through 20th century.  https://msstate.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p16631coll19/search


    Rev. Kenneth Dean collection (6 items).  These items were created by people living in COFO safehouses in Jackson between 1964 and 1968.  They reflect numerous social movements happening at the time including Civil Rights activism, Vietnam War protests, and anti-poverty programs. (https://msstate.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p16631coll24/search)


    2 new Cultural Conversations videos featuring John Mitchell discussing the CAVS mixed reality lab and Charles Templeton discussing the Templeton Music Museum. (https://msstate.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p16631coll21/search)


    Mega Resources (12 items).  Photographs from the 2019 Mega Resources School Librarian Workshop conducted by MSU libraries. (https://msstate.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/search/collection/mmlevents/field/langua/searchterm/MegaResource%20School%20Librarian%20Workshop%202019/mode/exact)


    Templeton Collection (316 pieces of sheet music):  From a recent donation by Chip Templeton.  This collection now consists of almost 13,000 pieces of beautifully illustrated sheet music, many of which are in the public domain.  (http://lib.msstate.edu/digitalcollections/templeton/)


    Submitted by

    Jenifer Ishee

    Assistant Professor, Digital Archivist

    Mississippi State University


  • Thursday, May 30, 2019 5:51 PM | Anonymous



    Jennifer Brannock, professor and curator of Rare Books and Mississippiana in The University of Southern Mississippi (USM) Libraries’ Special Collections, has earned the Reference and User Services Association (RUSA)’s Learning History Research and Innovation Award, sponsored by Gale, A Cengage Company.


    Brannock was selected for her innovative historical research in support of her project, “Con Sellers, Masculinity, and the Publishing Industry: Lowbrow Publications in Midcentury America”. The Learning History Research and Innovation Award includes $2,500 to facilitate and further research relating to history and history librarianship.


    RUSA is a division of the American Library Association (ALA) and serves libraries in reference, user services, adult readers advisory and collection development, as well as resource sharing, genealogy and archives, business reference and reference technology. The award requires that recipient research efforts include an emphasis in an area reflected by the History Section’s subject-oriented committees, not excluding American history. Subject areas include genealogy, local history, instruction and research services, and historical materials.


    Sellers was a Korean War veteran and Mississippi native who was determined to write for a living. In order to support his family, he wrote for ‘lowbrow’ publishers and magazines, since quality writing wasn’t considered a prerequisite for the genre, and Sellers could pen a book in approximately nine days. He produced more than 250 publications in his writing career, using more than 60 pseudonyms, and his papers are included in USM’s Special Collections.


    “I’m absolutely thrilled to receive this grant to further advance my research. There are very few manuscript resources available that are focused on this topic, and the collections that are out there require me to travel,” Brannock said. “This award will allow me to go the Library of Congress and conduct research in one of the few collections around.”


  • Thursday, May 30, 2019 5:15 PM | Anonymous

    Librarians from the Jackson Public School District were recognized during the Fay B. Kaigler Children’s Book Festival.  The festival, presented by The University of Southern Mississippi School of Library and Information Science, was held April 3-5, 2019 in Hattiesburg, MS.


    Spann Elementary librarian Jennifer Baker received the 2019 Kaigler-Lamont Award, recognizing distinguished accomplishments in the promotion of children’s reading by librarians and teachers in Mississippi schools and by children’s librarians in Mississippi public libraries.


    Lester Elementary librarian Ruth Bowen received the 2019 Richard Peck Scholarship. The scholarship, named for award-winning author of books for middle grade students and young adults Richard Peck, gives librarians and teachers from the Southeast region the opportunity to attend the Festival.



    Jennifer Baker and Ruth Bowen


    Submitted by

    Jeanette Whisenton

    Lead Librarian

    Teacher Resource Center

    Jackson Public School District


     

  • Thursday, May 30, 2019 5:09 PM | Anonymous

    The Singing River Genealogy-Local History Library at Pascagoula was the host of “Safeguarding Stories for Families” at two free workshops in April and May. They partnered with Mississippi Digital Library who assisted in the events.


    The Genealogy library invited the public to bring in family keepsakes, old family documents, family memorabilia, artifacts, and photos which may be added to local history collections. The library hosted the free day-long event at the Pascagoula Public Library and a second event at the Lucedale-George County Public Library. Local residents were encouraged to bring area photographs, family documents, and keepsake items to the libraries to have them listed, scanned, or photographed at no charge. All patrons participating received a CD of their digital images.


    Genealogy Library manager and archivist Amanda Brooks stated, “I consider Safeguarding Stories to be one of the most important programs Singing River has offered up till this point. Our mission as a cultural institution is uncertain if we cannot partner with our community and assist them in preserving their own history. Providing a space for our patrons to take an active role in saving their history, especially in such a high-risk disaster area, speaks to what we as a community entity are all about. The library is planning to continue the events in the future.” For more information about the events, contact the library archivist at 228-769-3078. 


    The Singing River Genealogy-Local History Library is located on the second floor of the Pascagoula library located at 3214 Pascagoula Street. For more information about the library, visit the website at www.jgrls.org, Facebook @SingingRiverLibrary or @JacksonGeorgeLibrary.


    Photo courtesy of Jackson-George Regional Library System


    Submitted by

    Rex Bridges

    Public Relations & Marketing Manager

    Jackson-George Regional Library System


  • Thursday, May 30, 2019 5:02 PM | Anonymous

    Sarah Mangrum, access services and assessment librarian at The University of Southern Mississippi, has been selected for the Library Leadership and Management Association’s (LLAMA) mentoring program, a division of the American Library Association.


    The mentoring program pairs librarians who are currently in leadership positions with librarians who are interested in becoming leaders. For mentors, it is an opportunity to share experience and knowledge by working one-on-one with a colleague who is ready to learn and benefit from that experience. The mentorship runs for 10 months and includes recurring communication and interaction with the mentee, providing career advice and counseling based on related experience, sharing skills and knowledge, and providing positive feedback through regular meetings that can be virtual, by phone, email or face-to-face.


    In addition, Mangrum received her Doctor of Education (EdD) in Higher Education Administration in May 2019. 


    Mangrum has been with University Libraries since October of 2008 and a librarian since 2012. She recently served as president of the Mississippi Library Association in 2018.

     


  • Thursday, May 30, 2019 4:57 PM | Anonymous


    Emily Bell, a native of Cleveland, MS, is the new Director of the Bolivar County Library System. Previously, she was a librarian at the Roberts LaForge Library at Delta State University, where she also received her undergraduate degree. Bell received her MLIS from The University of Southern Mississippi.


    Submitted by

    Tamara D. Blackwell

    Reference Services Librarian

    Bolivar County Library System



  • Thursday, May 30, 2019 4:52 PM | Anonymous

    The State Law Library of Mississippi welcomes Ginger Dressler as its newest Information Processing Librarian. Dressler previously worked at the Mississippi College Law Library for a number of years. 


    Judy Reedy, the previous holder of the position, has moved into the role of the Jackson-Branch Librarian for the United States Court of Appeals Library for the Fifth Circuit.


    Submitted by

    Stephen Parks

    State Librarian

    State Law Library of Mississippi


     

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