Northeast Jackson residents can breathe a sigh of relief that two out of three air conditioning units at the Willie Morris Library are working.
“One unit is down but parts have been ordered,” said Kimberly Corbett, interim executive director of the Jackson-Hinds Library System. “
Named in honor of writer Willie Morris, the Willie Morris Library was closed from June 1-7 awaiting repairs by the city of Jackson.
That left northeast Jackson residents with the option of driving downtown to the Eudora Welty Library at 300 N. State St., the nearest branch, if they needed to use a library.
The most recent audit for the Jackson-Hinds Library System noted that buildings that need repairs as well as the COVID-19 pandemic, the loss of revenue from branches closed because of the coronavirus pandemic and employee retention as issues the system faced in fiscal year 2019-2020. Those same issues continue to plague the library system.
The Jackson-Hinds Library System provides services at 14 libraries, seven of which are in Jackson and seven of which are in Hinds County.
By state statute, libraries must be owned by a city or county, not a library system. Municipalities are responsible for repairs, while day-to-day maintenance such as cleaning and unclogging toilets, is provided by the library system.
Corbett said the closure of the Willie Morris Library brought numerous calls from concerned people who rely on it.
“We had a lot of phone calls about the Willie Morris Library being closed,” she said. “They wanted to know when it would be on because they were eager to use it.
Air conditioning is vital for a library, she said, not just for the comfort of employees and patrons but also for the health of the books. It is recommended that libraries be kept at 68 degrees Fahrenheit to 72 degrees Fahrenheit to protect the books and other materials, Corbett said.
“That’s why libraries are always chilly,” she said. “We’re try to keep ours at 72 degrees.”
Concern about keeping the books and other materials at a safe temperature is merited, considering what happened at the Charles Tisdale Library on East Northside Drive. It closed in April 2017 after heavy rain, and the books were left at the branch and allowed to become contaminated with black mold and mildew.
The Jackson-Hinds Library System board of trustees voted to abandon its interests in the facility, effective Sept. 30, 2019. A letter informing the Jackson city council stated that the system “will bear no further interest or responsibility, financially or legally for the Tisdale Library. The utilities will be turned off, all exterior lighting will remain dark, also, contents and liability insurance coverage will end.”
The Tisdale Library is now an unofficial shelter for the homeless, including an individual who recently captured media attention in a video that showed him removing shelving.
In downtown Jackson, the Eudora Welty Library, once the system’s flagship named for the beloved Jackson writer, has also suffered physical problems. It occupies what was once a Sears department store that was constructed in 1947. The city purchased the facility in the late 1970s, and the library opened there in 1986 after renovation.
In 2017, the Jackson-Hinds Library System was forced to relocate its administrative office from the Eudora Welty Library due to black mold infestation. That same year, the Mississippi fire marshal temporarily shut down the facility, citing numerous fire safety violations. The Welty Library opened a few weeks later, but with reduced hours of operation and the second floor off limits to the public.
In February 2020, an inspector from the Jackson Fire Marshal’s office said the branch should be closed altogether.
About eight weeks ago, the administration of the system moved to the Quisenberry Library in Clinton from space on Lakeland Drive that was flooded after pipes burst.
Corbett said it looks like the administration will remain at the Quisenberry Library.
