The director of the Greenwood-Leflore Public Library is looking for funding to help replace two failing air conditioners.
“When we start hitting those triple digits, the air conditioners are working so hard they’re freezing,” Jenniffer Stephenson said. “Some days it’s OK, and some days it’s not.”
The library is also dealing with a recent rash of crimes ranging from auto burglaries on the outside to thefts and assaults on the inside, she said.
The library has five air conditioners altogether.
The computer lab, located on the second floor, is cooled by one of the failing units. The lab’s 10 computers and three printers generate a lot of heat. Add to that the heat of people using the machines, and the lab can easily become a hot box.
On Wednesday, with temperatures cooler than last week, the climate conditions on the second floor of the library, located at 405 W. Washington St., were tolerable — but that hasn’t always been the case.
The city and Leflore County fund the library.
On June 18, Stephenson appeared before the Greenwood City Council to ask for help. She was asked to get estimates on replacing the aging units.
The city has already replaced units at the Police Department and at the Youth Center this year. The library faces the same situation, Stephenson said.
“When the air conditioner freezes up, we just turn it off and let it thaw out,” she said. “It’s kind of crazy, that it’s frozen up and yet it’s putting hot air out.”
The director, who’s been on the job for more than two years, said she hasn’t gotten estimates on replacing the units yet but has been assured by Greenwood Mayor Carolyn McAdams and Leflore County Chancery Clerk Sam Abraham that when the units actually die, “they will see what they can do” about getting replacements.
The Library Board’s 2014 budget year begins Oct. 1. Funding for the general budget comes from the city and county jointly in the form of monthly payments.
Stephenson said she’s already put funds for a security system into the library’s proposed 2014 budget.
“We’ve had one incident in the back, and that was an employee’s car with a window busted out,” she said. “We don’t park in the back anymore.”
The library’s side parking lot — at the intersection of Washington and Cotton streets — is particularly prone to daylight crimes, Stephenson said.
In two separate break-ins, a gun and a cellphone were reportedly stolen, she said. Another break-in occurred at around 10 a.m., when a computer class was being held. Purses and wallets also have been reported stolen from inside the library, and a fight broke out in the computer lab, Stephenson said.
Stephenson said the Library Board supported hiring a security guard, but the council advised her to look into getting a security camera system installed instead.
She said one good thing did come from appearing before the council: an increase in police patrols.
Stephenson says the city has also addressed problems with the Jodie Wilson branch on Martin Luther King Drive, including potholes in the parking lot and a rear fire exit blocked by vegetation.
She said she’s consulted with McAdams regarding the state’s new open carry law regarding firearms. She said the city will provide the signage for the library informing patrons that the carrying of firearms, concealed or open, is prohibited.
McAdams said the city might not need to post signs if the courts strike down the new law, which has been blocked by court order. The mayor also said posting signs prohibiting the carrying of firearms in all government buildings and most private businesses gives people the wrong impression.
“What kind of message do we want to send our tourists?” she said. “Are we Dodge City or Greenwood?
Stephenson said many good things are going on at the library, including a summer program for which 60 youngsters from pre-K to junior high have signed up.
In the past two years, Stephenson has secured some $61,000 in grants for the library’s operation.
She said she wanted the library to be “something that the city is proud of” and “a place where people are comfortable and feel welcome.”
• Contact Bob Darden at 581-7239 or bdarden@gwcommonwealth.com.
