As the State of Mississippi prepares to demolish the building that once housed the Eudora Welty Library, the Jackson-Hinds Library Board of Trustees hopes that new funding, a strategic plan and new leadership will revitalize the capital city’s long-neglected libraries.
The board is searching for an executive director to lead the library system after its former executive director, Floyd Council, resigned after two years at the helm.
“Mr. Council took over leadership of the library system at an incredibly challenging time wherein the library system faced significant facilities challenges and funding cuts,” the board said in Oct. 29 press release, crediting him for helping the library system make “great strides towards establishing a firm foundation” during his short tenure.
‘Closing Libraries Left and Right’
In recent years, libraries in Jackson have suffered from neglect, with some falling into ruin due to a lack of funding for adequate repairs and persistent damage from thieves.
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In a Nov. 14 interview with the Mississippi Free Press, Jackson-Hinds Library Board President Peyton Smith commended former executive director Floyd Council, saying that JHLS saw “significant growth” under his leadership.
A major piece of that leadership included triage for Jackson’s struggling libraries, Smith explained.
“We’d just been closing libraries left and right, it felt like, for a long time,” he said.
On Dec. 19, 2023, the Jackson City Council voted to deed the Eudora Welty Library location on State Street to the Mississippi Department of Archives and History, which shared plans to raze the building and turn the site into a greenspace near the two Mississippi Museums.
In March of this year, President Joe Biden signed a spending bill that included millions in “historic funding for Jackson’s Eudora Welty Library,” a March 9 JHLS press release stated.
The federal grant came after the JHLS board submitted a HUD Congressional Directed Spending Grant request at the invitation of the Office of U.S. Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, a Mississippi Republican, the release continued.
“This money, $3.75 million, is a tremendous first step
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