Northside Sun, Jackson
JHLS making future plans
By NELL LUTER FLOYD - Sun Staff Writer
The Jackson Hinds Library System (JHLS) announced in March 2024 it had received a $3.7 million federal grant to go toward a new Eudora Welty Library in downtown Jackson.
The city of Jackson’s Planning and Development Department and JHLS Board of Trustees applied for the funding through the Department of Housing and Urban Development after receiving an invitation to do so by U.S. Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith.
Almost a year later, an existing building in downtown Jackson that could be repurposed or a suitable site on which to build has not been identified.
“We are still waiting for the city to let us know a good spot or if we could repurpose an old building,” said Morgan Hedglin, interim director of the library system.
Library leaders looked at some locations but none of them were suitable, Hedglin said.
“Wherever we end up putting a downtown location, we want to make sure it is convenient for the public,” she said.
When the grant was received, Welty Library was still standing, but that’s changed.
Items from Welty Library are in storage at the Jackson Medical Mall, and the building is in the process of being torn down so the site can be transformed into Margaret Anne Crigler Park, which will provide visitors to the Two Museums with a place for a reflective moment.
Planning for a new flagship facility did get a mention under the goal of “Restore and Revitalize Facilities’ in the JHLS 2025-2030 strategic plan that was recently released.
The library system has experienced some changes since the federal grant for replacing the Welty Library was received.
When the grant was received, Floyd Council led the library system as its executive director, but that’s no longer the case.
In October 2024, the library system announced the resignation of Council, who had held the executive director job since March 2022. In February, he began working as the regional director for the Metropolitan Library System of Oklahoma County, according to information on LinkedIn, a business and employment-focused online professional platform.
Working with Bradbury Miller Associates, a search firm that it hired at a cost of $33,000, the JHLS Board of Trustees hope to have a new executive director hired before the start of the summer reading season.
“The board of trustees hopes to have candidates by early spring and to make a hire by late spring,” Hedglin said.
Whoever is hired will have as a guide the strategic plan that calls for restoring and revitalizing facilities, expanding access to resources and strengthening community engagement.
Priorities also include expanding upon public and private funding, ensuring there are committed and competent staff and leadership advocates and providing transparent communication with the public across improved user-friendly digital platforms.
The JHLS Board of Trustees hired the nonprofit Library Strategies to develop the strategic plan and to provide a facilities masterplan. The trustees approved funding for the planning at a cost not to exceed $55,000.
Progress has already been made toward some of the strategic plan goals, Hedglin said.
Restoration 1 of Jackson has assessed all the branches and provided a list of what needs attention, which fits in with the plan’s goal of “Restore and Revitalize Facilities.”
“We are now working to find a contractor who can work under an RFP (Request for Proposals),” Hedglin said.
In December, JHLS issued a request for proposals for a facilities management contractor that would be responsible for the system’s 12 library branches.
A facilities manager contractor would also do basic maintenance work at the branches as well as conduct monthly walkthroughs of all facilities, solicit quotes for work costing less than $15,000 and make recommendations to the board of trustees for managing contractors who might be hired.
The facilities manager contractor would be the library system’s first point of contact should there be a problem, Hedglin said.
“We think we can address issues faster” than having to reach out to the city, she said.
The “Restore and Revitalize Facilities” goal of the strategic plan also calls for planning for financing and site selection for restoring closed libraries, improving outdoor library signage and landscaping, investing in cost-effective measures such as community artwork, painting and flooring to renew and enhance branches and also investing service options such as outreach, pop-ups and community partnership for South Jackson, which is underserved.
A bookmobile is on order from Farber Specialty Vehicles in Columbus, Ohio at a cost of $400,000 and is expected to be delivered in late 2026, Hedglin said.
The bookmobile will be able serve areas without a branch and can also visit daycare centers and nursing homes and even take place in parades such as Hal’s St. Paddy’s Parade, she said.
Falling under the strategic plan’s goal of “Timely, Trusted Communication,” is a re-branded website for the library system that is expected to debut in June with the system’s new logo, Hedglin said.
The communication goal also includes deploying advocacy tactics, including training for the board of trustees and grassroots engagement opportunities to expand awareness of the value and impact of libraries in the community and creating a digital mobile app for improved digital access.
Another goal of the strategic plan, “Firm Financial Foundation,” includes establishing an endowment, exploring sustainable solutions for fundraising, seeking grants and sponsorships to write library capital projects, programs, services and collections, establishing regular and consistent annual giving campaigns and identifying library services such as meeting room rentals, passport services and story time birthday parties that could generate revenue.
The adoption of new strategies for collection management, including increasing the availability of in-demand items falls under the “Shelves Full of Wisdom and Wonder” goal of the strategic plan. That goal also includes employing digital and bookstore-style approaches to increase awareness of the wide-ranging content and numerous formats that are available to use.
Expanding the variety of programming of library-led events and opportunities for all ages is a goal listed under “A Trusted Community Hub for Learning, Culture, Connection and Digital Life” in the strategic plan. Also included as goals are stabilizing core technology services (internet access and computing) and reinstating tech classes and assistance for the public, developing play and learning spaces and experiences for children and their families, embracing community partners and expanding the use of emerging technologies and STEAM resources.
The goal of “Committed and Competent Staff and Leadership Advocates” lists assessing employee compensation levels through a broad-based staffing study, expanding training options and opportunities for staff and trustees finalizing internal policies and procedures and conducting an annual assessments of board operations and performance (as recommended by the Mississippi Public Library System Accreditation Program Manual.”
In partnership with the Mississippi Library Commission, staff members are getting training on how to handle difficult people, she said. Also, benefits for staff members have been improved to include access to counseling, she said.
The library system currently has 59 employees, compared to a high of 120 when additional branches were open and the operating hours were longer than what they are now, she said.
In January, the Monday through Thursday hours at the Quisenberry Library, the Willie Morris Library, the Margaret Walker Alexander Library and the Medgar Evers Library were extended. Those branches are now open from 10 a.m. until 7 p.m. Monday through Thursday while the hours remain the same on Friday and Saturday (9 a.m. until 5 p.m.).
The library system is still a valuable resource that many people use, Hedglin said. In November 2024, the system had 22,082 visitors and in December 2024, there were 17,459 visitors.
“The majority of materials checked out are children’s materials,” Hedglin said. “We have a high computer usage.”
The strategic plan will help focus decisions going forward and serve as a guide, she said.
“We want to be mission focused about what we’re doing and how we’re spending our funding,” Hedglin said.