Big improvements are planned at the Itta Bena Public Library in the coming months, including more books, computers and a general sprucing up of the building.
The work is funded by a $50,000 grant from the Foundation for the Mid South.
Sarah Wynn, director of administrative services for the Atlanta-based Rural Library Project Inc., is overseeing the administration of the grant. She said she first visited the Thurman Street site earlier this year with Dan White, the Rural Library Project’s director of program services, and thought it had a lot of potential.
“There’s a nice collection in there, and I think it just needs to be updated and refreshed,” she said. “I think it can be just a wonderful resource for everyone in Itta Bena, from infants to the elderly.”
Four computers will be installed for public use, and a fax machine and a copier will be put in. The books to be added will include more up-to-date reference materials.
Other planned renovations include landscaping, painting and new flooring. The goal is to make both the interior and exterior of the building warmer and more inviting, Wynn said.
Under the grant requirements, the work must be done by Sept. 30. Wynn said the schedule is still being developed, but any work that requires moving items out will be done first.
“We have to do the floor pretty quickly, so we’re trying to move forward with that,” she said.
Wynn said they hope to work with local electricians and other local people on the construction.
The grant was tailored specifically to the Itta Bena facility, and Wynn worked with Mayor Thelma Collins to assess its resources.
Some new books already have come in, purchased with the help of a grant from the Libri Foundation. Dr. Annie Payton, director of the James Herbert White Library at Mississippi Valley State University, has helped with book selection, and Wynn said she hopes to gather input from a committee of citizens.
Wynn also hopes the library will be able to add even more books with the help of Usborne Books’ “Literacy for a Lifetime” matching-grant program.
The library once was a branch of the Greenwood-Leflore Public Library but now belongs to the city of Itta Bena.
After its librarian retired about two years ago, it closed for a little over a year. Collins said she worked hard to make sure it would reopen before the 2008-2009 school year.
“The library’s such an asset to the community that I just decided that it had to be open for the children,” she said.
The library is currently staffed by two volunteers and two young women who are taking part in a summer youth employment program. A summer reading program for preschoolers begins today.
Wynn said libraries can be magical places for those who love reading. They’re a great tool for lifelong learning, and they especially benefit small towns where residents might not have Internet access, she said.
“Some people feel like the Internet will replace libraries,” she said. “I don’t think that’s going to be the case, at least for a long time.”
