A renewed effort is underway to restore and revitalize public libraries and library services across Hinds County, the Jackson-Hinds Library System has announced.

The organization released its 2025-2030 Strategic Plan on Feb. 13, saying that it will prioritize initiatives “to enhance library services, expand access to resources, and strengthen community engagement throughout Hinds County,” a Feb. 13 JHLS press release says.

“Our libraries are more than just broken buildings and a printing service—they’re a central hub for education, creativity and connection,” Jackson-Hinds Library System Interim Director Morgan Hedglin said in the press release.

Feedback from community members, stakeholders and library staff helped the Board to develop the organization’s new five-year strategic plan, the Feb. 13 press release states. 

“Our strategic plan will guide us in delivering equitable access to resources and ensuring that all residents of Hinds County have the tools they need to thrive in an ever-changing digital age,” Hedglin continued.

Jackson-Hinds Library staff members gather for a 2024 meeting at the Quisenberry Library in Clinton, Miss. Photo courtesy of the Jackson-Hinds Library System

The plan will center on six points as outlined by the JHLS Board:

  1. Restore and Revitalize Facilities – Transforming our libraries into welcoming state-of-the-art spaces and immediate repair to damaged facilities. A plan to reconstruct a new flagship location to replace the former Eudora Welty Library.  
  2. Timely, Trusted Communications – Transparent communication with our community across improved user-friendly digital platforms. Expand library awareness to underserved locations.  
  3. Firm Financial Foundation – Expanding upon public and private funding to complete multifaceted goals for short-term and long-term library needs. 
  4. Shelves Full of Wisdom and Wonder – JHLS wants to encourage lifelong learning and enrichment. Offering a wide variety of materials that meet the public’s needs.  
  5. A Trusted Community Hub for Learning, Culture, Connection and Digital Life – The public values and wants more library programs, spaces, and technology for personal, study and professional use. JHLS will expand its deserved reputation for services and library programs through time-tested, cost-effective practices. 
  6. Committed and Competent Staff and Leadership Advocates – Friendly and knowledgeable staff are the foundation of a public library. JHLS employees are highly commended by our patrons. Library trustees and supporters are passionate to protect the community’s interest in the library. Attract talented employees and trustees that assure the public’s trust.

Future Home of Eudora Welty Library Undetermined

Financial challenges, deferred maintenance and vandalism have plagued the Jackson-Hinds Library System in recent years, particularly in Mississippi’s capital city, leading the organization to close a number of public library locations.

Jackson’s former Charles Tisdale Library and the Eudora Welty Library in downtown Jackson were total losses while South Jackson’s Richard Wright Library remains closed and boarded up. The JHLS still operates four public libraries in the capital city: Margaret Walker Alexander Library, Medgar Evers Library, Fannie Lou Hamer Library and Willie Morris Library.

Eudora Welty Library was Hinds County’s flagship public library for nearly 40 years before years of deferred maintenance and storm damage led the City of Jackson to permanently close the location and transfer ownership of the building to the Mississippi Department of Archives and History in 2023. Photo by Shaunicy Muhammad

On Jan. 29, crews began demolishing the building that once housed the Eudora Welty Library, which was Hinds County’s flagship library for nearly 40 years before delayed facility maintenance and flooding damage led the building to fall into disrepair. 

Last year, the City of Jackson deeded the property to the Mississippi Department of Archives and History after the Jackson City Council voted on Dec. 19, 2023, to approve the transfer of ownership. MDAH unveiled plans to turn the area into a public park for Jackson residents and visitors to the Two Mississippi Museums, a popular site for visitors to the capital city.

Before the Jackson City Council voted to transfer ownership of the building to the state, several library patrons appealed to the Council about the need for a library location in downtown Jackson. 

“We need a downtown library more than we need grass and flowers right away,” Jackson Ward 5 resident and longtime public library patron Jan Hillegas told the Council and Jackson Mayor Chokwe A. Lumumba on Dec. 19, 2023.

The mayor told Hillegas at the time that the City planned to reopen a new library in close proximity to downtown patrons. He hoped the City could relocate the Eudora Welty Library to a building just across the street in what was formerly a white-only public library during the Jim Crow segregation era.

A crowd of people look on and clap to a new historical marker. The title on the marker is Jackson Municipal Library Sit-In
Members of the “Tougaloo Nine” unveiled the Mississippi Freedom Trail marker recognizing them for their peaceful sit-in at the then whites-only Jackson Municipal Library on Thursday, Aug. 17, 2017. The nine people arrested on March 27, 1961, were students at the private Tougaloo College. AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis

The location was the site of a March 27, 1961, sit-in to protest segregation. Nine Tougaloo College students dubbed the Tougaloo Nine and members of the local Youth Council of the NAACP staged the demonstration. The State dedicated a Mississippi Freedom Trail marker at the site in 2017.

“We believe that would be an amazing location for the long-term fit of our library. Not only would it be an amazing location, it would be a proper tribute for the history of that location to the City,” Lumumba said. However, the mayor said on Dec. 19, 2023, since First Baptist Church owned that building, the City had to scrap those plans.

The City of Jackson and the JHLS Board of Trustees are continuing to discuss a suitable location for the Eudora Welty Library branch, JHLS Board Chair Peyton Smith told the Mississippi Free Press on Feb. 13. Currently, the City houses the contents of Eudora Welty Library at the Jackson Medical Mall.

Search Continues For New Executive Director

The Jackson-Hinds Library System’s new strategic plan comes months after former JHLS Executive Director Floyd Council resigned after two years at the helm. 

Read the Jackson-Hinds Library System’s 2025-2030 Strategic Plan.

While JHLS has not specified why Council opted to resign, the organization said in an Oct. 29, 2024, press release that he left the public library service in a good position. 

“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 JHLS Board said in the Oct. 29 press release that credited him for helping the library system make “great strides towards establishing a firm foundation.”

The organization continues to search for its next leader, Peyton Smith told the Mississippi Free Press on Feb. 13.

You can read the Jackson-Hinds Library System’s 2025-2030 Strategic Plan in full here.

➡️ Read more stories from the Capital City Bureau here.

Capital City reporter Shaunicy Muhammad covers a variety of issues affecting Jackson residents, with a particular focus on causes, effects and solutions for systemic inequities in South Jackson neighborhoods, supported by a grant from the Center for Disaster Philanthropy. She grew up in Mobile, Alabama where she attended John L. LeFlore High School and studied journalism at Spring Hill College. She has an enduring interest in Africana studies and enjoys photography, music and tennis.