The Jackson Friends of the Library is looking to a local foundation to add a musical note to the Jackson-Hinds Library System.
The Friends of the Library announced plans to connect with Dreamnote, a nonprofit established by Cathead Distillery to improve access to music and art in underserved communities in the state, during its Nov. 13 fundraiser, “A Novel Night.”
To celebrate the announcement, there was music, including that by blues musician Jesse Robinson, musicians from the Mississippi Symphony Orchestra and the Murrah High School Choir.
The best way to proceed is still being determined, said Joshua Lawhorn, age 39, president of the Friends of the Library.
“We’re still trying to figure that out,” he said. “The idea originally was – and it might be what we end up doing – an instrument rental program.”
Dreamnote, which is the organization that puts on the popular Cathead Jam event each June in Jackson, got off the ground about two years ago, said Austin Evans, who co-founded Cathead Distillery in 2010.
It makes sense for libraries to grant access to music and the literary arts because they offer a sense of community and place, he said.
“The literary world is part of my world,” he said, explaining that his father John Evans is the owner of Lemuria Books, which has been in business in Jackson for 50 years.
Jeanne Williams, executive director of the library system, said libraries have always offered music programs of some kind.
Some libraries provide instrument rental programs, which are an extension of the Library of Things, she said. A Library of Things makes pricey items accessible with a library card.
Other libraries offer programs for adults and children that feature music educators or performances by local musicians, she said.
In recent years, libraries have installed sound booths to give musicians, podcasters and others a free place to make recordings, she said.
The $65-million, six-story Benjamin L. Hooks Central Library in Memphis features a sound booth in its designated area for teens. Richard Grant, a former Jackson resident, wrote an article that appeared in the November 2021 Smithsonian magazine that mentions the sound booth at Central Library and explains “How Memphis Created the Nation’s Most Innovative Library.”
Sound booths are useful even for non-performers and non-podcasters, Williams said. The booths give people seeking jobs a quiet place to record a video interview and offer a private location for an adult to have a telehealth visit with a physician, Williams said.
Williams believes a sound booth would be a popular addition when the city of Jackson opens a location to replace the Eudora Welty Library, which has been torn down.
“I think in December we’ll be able to start to talk about potential options,” she said.
Under Mississippi law, public libraries may not use their own funds for capital projects such as land acquisition, building construction or major infrastructure replacements. Those costs must be paid entirely from the general funds of the county or municipality where the library system is located.
Williams said the library system and the city of Jackson are both in a “better place” to begin a discussion about such, “even if it is a five-year plan,” but funding will be a challenge.
Evans praised the Friends of the Library, a volunteer group, for stepping up to raise funds for improvements to the library system. “They bring positivity and energy,” he said.
Williams also had good things to say about the Friends of the Library, which was revamped in 2021.
“They’re very motivated, have a lot of energy and want to see a renaissance in the Jackson-Hinds Library System and in Jackson as a whole,” she said.
Lawhorn, an attorney and father of two daughters ages 8 and 5, said anyone can join the Friends of the Library.
Many of the Friends of the Library board members are parents, he said, and appreciate the services libraries offer.
“The board members are pretty much all around the same age, in our 30s and early 40s,” he said. “We’re all people who live in Jackson and have found a way we can contribute.”
One board member is Hunter Evans, age 35, the chef and owner of Elvie’s and the Mayflower restaurants who has lent his expertise in he hospitality industry with the group’s fundraisers.
He likes the idea of Dreamnote working with the Friends of the Library to support music education in some way.
“Libraries aren’t the quiet institutions they used to be,” he said. “Now they’re more interactive.”
Before opening Elvie’s in Belhaven in 2020, Evans used the Eudora Welty Library as office space, sometimes finding inspiration in the cookbooks that were on the shelves.
The Friends of the Library wants to support the library system in any way possible and looks to Williams for guidance with its plans, Lawhorn said.
The group placed colorful art installations in the Margaret Walker Alexander Library and the Medgar Evers Library thanks to a grant from the Mississippi Arts Commission, he said. Emmaline Smith, a Belhaven resident who has served on the board and is now an advisor, helped secure the grant.
The Friends of the Library have also donated funds so that books could be purchased for the Wells Collection of notable and award-winning books and for the summer reading program, he said.
The Friends rely on fundraisers, its annual book sale, memberships and donations to pay for projects, he said.
