MISSISSIPPI LIBRARY ASSOCIATION

News

  • Monday, August 11, 2014 9:05 AM | Tina Harry (Administrator)

    Susan Ivey, Michael Paulmeno, and Jennifer Nabzdyk have been selected to be Digital Public Library of America (DPLA) Representatives for Mississippi. They were three of one-hundred individuals selected from a pool of applications coming from all fifty states and five internationals countries. As DPLA reps, the three will organize activities that promote DPLA. DPLA is a platform that brings together the riches of America’s libraries, archives, and museums, and makes them freely available to the world online (http://dp.la).


    Ivey is the Digital Initiatives Librarian at the University of Mississippi; Nabzdyk is the Digital Services Consultant at the Mississippi Library Commission; and, Paulmeno is an Electronic Services Librarian at Delta State University.


    Submitted by

    Jennifer Nabzdyk

    Digital Services Consultant

    Mississippi Library Commission

  • Monday, August 11, 2014 9:03 AM | Tina Harry (Administrator)

    Anne Lipscomb Webster retired from the Mississippi Department of Archives and History on April 30 after serving the Mississippi public for thirty-seven years in the reference services section.  Webster began work with MDAH in 1977, becoming head librarian in 1980 and working that position until 1990 when the Division was re-organized.  Returning to manage the reference services unit exclusively, Webster (nee Lipscomb) and former co-worker, Kathleen Hutchison, co-authored, "Tracing Your Mississippi Ancestors," in 1994.  Webster has served in various capacities in the Special Libraries Section of MLA, and the Mississippi Historical Society; she also has taught the enrichment classes at Millsaps College, and is on the speaker's bureau of the Mississippi Humanities Council.

  • Monday, August 11, 2014 8:30 AM | Tina Harry (Administrator)

    The University of Southern Mississippi Libraries’ Special Collections has been actively supporting “Freedom Summer” 50th anniversary activities: an exhibit in the Cook Library lobby running June 8 through September 12; a digital exhibit “loop” on Eaglevision in the Thad Cochran Center during the June 19-21 Freedom Summer 1964-2014 Conference at USM; a panel on archival resources at the same Conference; fulfilling numerous requests from internal and external researchers for information about Freedom Summer collections and copies of related photographs preserved at USM; and greatly expanding the number of related images online (e.g., over 800 images from the collections of negatives taken by nationally acclaimed photographer Herbert Randall in 1964 now online at http://digilib.usm.edu/cdm/landingpage/collection/randall).


    USM also provided a description of its collections development interests and procedures that was accepted to be among nine institutions nationally listed under "Preserving Our History, What to do With Your Freedom Movement Papers" posted for public access on the Civil Rights Movement Veterans website http://www.crmvet.org/docs/docs_kit1.pdf and the SNCC Legacy Project website http://www.sncclegacyproject.org/pdf/docs_kit1.pdf.


    For additional information, please contact Steve Haller, Curator of Historical Manuscripts and Archives at Stephen.Haller@usm.edu.


    Submitted by

    Steve Haller

    Curator of Historical Manuscripts and Archives

    The University of Southern Mississippi

  • Monday, August 11, 2014 8:20 AM | Tina Harry (Administrator)

    Thomas


    Courtney Thomas was named the Hancock County Library System’s (HCLS) new Executive Director by the HCLS Board of Trustees. Thomas had been serving as Interim Executive Director since February 1, 2013.


    She began her career when she was a high school junior, working as a shelver at the Bay St. Louis-Hancock County Library. She then went on to college and came back to the same library as a Reference Assistant. She worked at NASA Space Center and Hancock Medical Center, until returning to the library system in June, 2010, as Personnel/Grants Officer.


    “The library seems to be in my destiny,” said Thomas, who is also a native of Hancock County. “I love the library and the services it provides the citizens of Hancock County and surrounding communities. The team here is awesome and I am proud to be able to assist in moving them and the library system forward.” Thomas holds Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Southern Mississippi, and is currently enrolled in the Master of Library and Information Science program at the University of Southern Mississippi.


    “We are pleased to have Courtney fill the Executive Director position,” said Dolly Lundberg, HCLS Board of Trustees Chairman. “She has done an excellent job as Interim Executive Director, and we know she will continue to perform well as Executive Director.”


    She was also recently named the sole recipient of the Public Librarian Scholarship by the Mississippi Library Commission.


    The scholarship is part of the Library Services and Technology Act grant program administered through the Institute of Museum and Library Services.The grant, in the amount of $10,000, covers the tuition costs associated with Thomas’ enrollment in the Master’s Degree in Library Science program at the University of Southern Mississippi. She is scheduled to complete the coursework and receive her master’s degree in December 2015.


    “In any library, it is always so important to employ staff members who have their MLIS degrees,” Thomas said. “However, the cost of graduate school is quite steep, so receiving this scholarship will definitely be a great help to me. I am excited about receiving this grant to complete my education in library and information services.”

  • Tuesday, August 05, 2014 7:11 AM | Molly McManus

     

    Get help at your library with a digital project. Apply today for the Cultural Heritage Digitization Award: http://www.msdiglib.org/award/cha2015.php

  • Tuesday, July 01, 2014 1:24 PM | Web Editor (Administrator)


    The MLA Board has voted to provide a new benefit.  Through an agreement with American Income Life, each member will receive several no-cost benefits.  These include an Accidental Death and Dismemberment Benefit of $2000.00; a Health Services Discount Plan; a Child Safe Kit; and a Family Information Guide.  The AD&D benefit requires no action on the part of the member.  You should have  received a letter about these benefits.  There is a response card in the letter, and, if you choose to return the card to the company, you will also receive the additional no cost benefits.  You should be aware, however, that if you do return the card, you will be visited by an AIL Representative and be offered additional services, at a cost.

  • Tuesday, June 17, 2014 8:36 AM | Tina Harry (Administrator)

    Sample

    Deb Sample, Branch Librarian of Adcock Library, retired after 25 years of service to Holmes Community College in Ridgeland, MS. This culminated a career that got its roots in her high school library where she worked as a library aid.  Before coming to Holmes, she worked as librarian at Woodland Hills Baptist Academy in Jackson, acquisitions librarian at Mississippi State College for Women in Columbus and reference librarian at Ricks Memorial Library in Yazoo City for a total of 30 years in service to Mississippi libraries.


    Sample, an Ocean Springs native, holds an associate’s degree from Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College. She received a bachelor’s degree in library science from Mississippi State College for Women and a master’s degree in library science from the University of Mississippi. She holds memberships in the Mississippi Library Association and the Alpha Beta Alpha Fraternity and is past District chairman with the Mississippi Private School Association. She was also named Lamplighter at Holmes Community College.


    She plans to spend retirement researching her genealogy, cultivating new hobbies, and traveling to visit friends and relatives. She has a grown son, Michael Sample, and three grandchildren.

  • Tuesday, May 20, 2014 2:00 PM | Tina Harry (Administrator)

    Ed Hughes


    The Board of Trustees of First Regional Library has announced the appointment of Ed Hughes as the new Director.

     

    Mr. Hughes has a Bachelor of Arts and a Masters in Library Science, both from the University of Wisconsin. In his 30-plus career as a librarian Ed has worked for both academic and public libraries in areas he calls “cowboy country” including Idaho, Wyoming, Nebraska, and South Dakota. He comes to Mississippi from Wisconsin, where he has been serving as director of the Rhinelander District Library since 2008.

     

    His other positions during his career include Circulation-Technical Services Supervisor at the Rapid City Public Library where he assisted with the opening of a new branch and an expansion to the main library. He was also the library’s network contact with overall responsibility for migration to a new integrated library system. Ed’s other library experience includes stints in Acquisitions at the University of Wisconsin and as Head of Cataloging at the College of Southern Idaho Library.

     

    The nationwide search for the Director of First Regional Library yielded applicants from all over the country.  “Ed’s impressive experience and passion for public libraries served him well in our interview process,” said Evelyn Hubbard, Board of Trustees President. “We are confident that in Ed Hughes we have found the ideal librarian to or lead First Regional Library into the future.”

     

    Ed follows Catherine Nathan, who retired as Director in October 2013, and Judy Card, who has been serving as Interim Director. He begins his FRL career on June 2nd.

  • Monday, May 19, 2014 12:22 PM | Tina Harry (Administrator)

    The Association of Southeastern Research Libraries (ASERL) announces the development of “Deeply Rooted,” a new, shared digital collection focusing on the rich agricultural and rural histories of its member institutions. This project builds on the work of Mississippi State University Libraries’ Consortium for the History of Agriculture and Rural Mississippi (CHARM), especially with regard to online digital content and the subjects of agricultural and rural history.


    “ASERL libraries have amazingly deep, fascinating collections related to the rural history of the South and our country as a whole,” commented Thomas McNally, ASERL’s President and Dean of Libraries at the University of South Carolina. “We are excited we can combine our strengths to deliver unique, unparalleled content to historians and students across country and the world via our ASERL partnerships.”


    As with the Civil War project, ASERL seeks to enable broad participation of member institutions in the “Deeply Rooted” collection. This collection will contain content that describes economic, technologic, and social factors significant to the development of agricultural practices, crops, technology, and agrarian life in the regions of the contributing institutions.


    The Digital Public Library of America (DPLA) will serve as the main portal for this Deeply Rooted collection, which is projected to be online by the end of 2014. Mississippi State University Libraries will provide leadership on the steering committee, harvest and normalize the metadata and serving as a liaison to DPLA for this effort.


    “We are thrilled that the Deeply Rooted project is underway and will provide researchers with access to these primary resources. Making them available through the DPLA will make the resources more discoverable to researchers around the world,” said Frances Coleman, Dean of MSU Libraries.


    This will be the second shared digital collection created under the ASERL umbrella. In 2011, ASERL launched American-south.org, an online portal to a shared digital collection of Civil War Era content. This collection contains more than 10,000 items from more than 30 libraries and has attracted more than 55,000 visitors since its launch.


    For more information on the project contact John Burger, ASERL Executive Director (jburger@aserl.org); Frances Coleman, Dean of Libraries, Mississippi State University; Stephen Cunetto, Administrator of Systems, Mississippi State University Libraries.


    About ASERL: For more than 50 years, the Association of Southeastern Research Libraries has brought together leaders from research, federal, and state libraries in the region to foster a high standard of library excellence through inter-institutional resource sharing and other collaborative efforts. Today, ASERL is the largest regional research library consortium in the United States. By working together, ASERL members continue to provide and maintain top quality resources and services for the students, faculty, and citizens of their respective communities. For more information on ASERL, please visit http://www.aserl.org/


    About the MSU Libraries: Mississippi State University Libraries is a premier research library providing its communities of users an ongoing, creative, technologically advanced library program that provides new and emerging technologies; enhances and inspires teaching, research, and service of the highest caliber in an environment of free and open inquiry and with a commitment to excellence. For more information about MSU Libraries, please visit http://library.msstate.edu/


    Submitted by
    Angela M. Patton
    Library Associate
    Mississippi State University Libraries

     

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