The executive director of the Jackson-Hinds Library System visited the nation’s capital last month and discovered a path to possibly better days for the Eudora Welty Library in downtown Jackson.
The trip that Floyd Council, executive director of the library system, made led to what is one of the most positive actions taken this year by the Jackson City Council.
The council authorized the city’s Department of Planning and Development to submit a congressionally directed spending grant application for $5 million to the U.S. Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development and any related federal agency on behalf of the Jackson-Hinds Library System for fiscal year 2024.
If granted, the funds would be used to purchase another building to house the Welty Library, which opened in 1986 in a former Sears department store location at 300 N. State St. The funds would also provide for the relocation and renovation as well as the build-out of another facility for the library.
“This whole process came directly as a result of my trip to D.C.,” Council said. “The American Library Association selected about 50 delegates from across the country to attend the Congressional Fly-In on March 8 and 9.
“Hulen Bivins, executive director of the Mississippi Library Commission, and I represented the state of Mississippi. We met with U.S. Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith personally and U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson personally and representatives of the other members of Congress from Mississippi.”
Council said he spoke with Cady Cooper, a legislative assistant for Hyde-Smith, about the legacy of Welty and the poor condition of the library where a banner out front displays the image of the Pulitzer Prize-winning author who is still remembered by many Jackson residents.
Council arranged for Cooper to speak to members of the Jackson-Hinds Library System’s board of trustees on March 16 about the grant application.The board met the next day and decided to pursue funding for another building to house the Welty Library.
To get the application completed and turned in by a March 23 deadline, the board received help from city leaders with refining it, Council said.
The city of Jackson is applying for the funding because by state law, the city or county where a library is located is responsible for maintaining the buildings where a branch is located. The library system handles the day-to-day operations of the branches, which are funded by Hinds County and the city of Jackson.
“I see the future of the whole library system and the Eudora Welty Library as being bright,” Council said “I believe there’s a lot of support. The mayor has expressed his support. The city council has expressed its support.”
Council is optimistic about the funding possibility. Hyde-Smith had more than $100 million in congressionally directed spending last year, he said.
Congressionally directed spending allows a lawmaker to direct federal funding to support local projects that enhance community priorities, transportation, health care, education, job opportunities and other economic development projects. There are restrictions on eligibility and transparency requirements.
Should the grant be successful, the city would most likely receive the funding in late 2023 or 2024.
“We may receive all of the funding, we may receive part of the funding, we may receive no funding,” said Peyton Smith, a Belhaven resident and attorney who serves as chairman of the Jackson-Hinds Library System Board of Trustees.
“It’s certainly presented an exciting possibility for restoring our downtown library branch.”
There is no doubt the Welty Library is past its usefulness, he said.
The building, which opened as a library in 1986, is riddled with water leaks and black mold that resulted from a hailstorm several years ago and a faulty repair of the roof. The library must close when the temperature inside nears 80 degrees because the air conditioning system does not function.
“The HVAC is done,” Smith said. “The heating has worked, which is why it has been open. We anticipate the building will not be useable, just like it was not usable last summer. We haven’t formalized our move-out plan, but maybe we close it permanently.”
Council envisions “a beautiful, new public space” that would be a fitting tribute to Welty and a destination for library patrons and visitors to Jackson.
He would like the same amount of space, 45,000 square feet to 50,000 square feet, that the current Welty Library contains, and a facility as well planned and handsome as the Two Mississippi Museums, which are located behind the Welty Library on North Street.
“The library has to reflect the brands of Jackson and Hinds County and a brand that is respectful to the state of Mississippi,” Council said.
Books and other materials are basics for a library, he said, noting that a new building brings possibilities that could include expanding the services offered and perhaps even change polices so that someone who takes a laptop to the library to work could enjoy a cup of coffee there.
“I visualize a space that supports everyday life in the city of Jackson,” he said.
Council hopes the Mississippi Writers Room, which is a structure inside the Welty Library with exhibits and books by many of the state’s writers, can be dismantled and used in a new location.
For now, library employees are focused on weeding out books and materials no longer needed, he said.
“We are in the early planning stages,” Council said. “The city and the board are working on where we could go. The city has a variety of buildings we could store books in. It would be a one- to three- year process where books would have to be stored.”
The library board has considered a temporary branch like a small storefront until a more permanent building would be available, he said.
Smith is hopeful that a location can be found downtown for the Welty Library. “There are several ideas that have been kicked around, although nothing is set in stone,” he said.
The most often discussed building is the former Jackson Municipal Library, just across the street from the Welty Library. The former municipal library is owned by the Mississippi Baptist Convention Board, which has not indicated an interest in parting with the building.
A plan is in place for the current Welty Library to be demolished and replaced with a green space that would complement the Two Mississippi Museums.
The Mississippi Department of Archives and History received $2 million in a 2023 appropriations bill that the governor must sign that could be used for the project, said Sarah Warnock, director of public relations for the department.
A private donor has already given $1 million for the project and fund-raising and grants are being sought for additional money for the project, she said.
Warnock did not know what it would cost to demolish the Welty Library and transform the site into a green space.
The Design Workshop, which specializes in landscape architecture and urban design, has created renderings for the project but those are not ready for release to the public, Warnock said.
Having a green space near the Two Museums would enhance cultural engagement in downtown Jackson, Smith said, and so would a new library.
“We hope with a reliable facility and one that has been modernized we could cast a wider net,” he said
The Welty Library is not the only branch in the system with problems, Smith said.
The Willie Morris Library at 4912 Old Canton Road is offering only curbside service after a pipe broke earlier this year and flooded most of the facility, and the Richard Wright Library at 515 W. McDowell Road is closed because of major roof leaks.
“We’re working on a long-term plan to bring stability to the library branches citywide. It’s going to be a process and will take time,” Smith said.
