MISSISSIPPI LIBRARY ASSOCIATION

News

  • Tuesday, June 02, 2020 9:07 AM | Anonymous

    Diane DeCesare Ross was recently hired as the new Director of the Lamar County Library System. Ross began her new position on April 1, 2020. Ross was born at the Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi, Mississippi, and now lives in Eastabuchie, Mississippi. Diane holds bachelor’s degree in American studies and master’s degrees in both anthropology and library and information science with studies in photography, art history, design, and creative writing.


    Previously, Diane worked for many years at the University of Southern Mississippi as Managing Editor of The Southern Quarterly and as Curator of Manuscripts, Archives, and Digital Collections. As the founding director of the Mississippi Digital Library (MDL), she grew this program from a single scanner in a basement room to a lasting statewide cooperative digital library program involving a variety of institutions.In her spare time, Diane enjoys photography, writing, reading, art, genealogy, making puppets from found materials, walking out in nature, driving along back-roads, and getting people to tell her their stories.


    Submitted by:
    Terry Lajaunie

    Assistant Director

    Lamar County Library System

  • Tuesday, June 02, 2020 8:56 AM | Anonymous

    Jenniffer Stephenson started her position as the new Assistant Director for Public Services at First Regional Library in early March 2020. Jenniffer has long been a leader in the library community, including most recently serving as Director of the Greenwood-LeFlore Public Library System. She has served in professional leadership roles in both the state of Mississippi and nationally, serving on the Board of Directors of the Association for Rural & Small Libraries and as President of the Mississippi Library Association. She holds her Master’s in Library and Information Science from the University of Southern Mississippi. 


    Jenniffer had only been at FRL for a short time before the library closed its doors to the public because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Her skills and experience have been invaluable to FRL during this time of reevaluating library services in 2020, as she helps guide FRL’s fourteen branches in finding new ways to provide library service."I am very excited to join the First Regional Library team,” Stephenson says.If anything, this pandemic has shown me how well this team comes together to handle a tough situation while continuing to provide excellent library services.It's proof that we have such a talented group of people who work hard for the communities their libraries serve."


    Jenniffer replaces Barbara Evans, who retired in December of 2019 after serving over 20 years with FRL. Jenniffer can be contacted at jstephenson@firstregional.org.


    Photo credit: David Brown, First Regional Library


    Submitted by:
    David Brown

    First Regional Library

  • Thursday, March 12, 2020 11:18 AM | Anonymous

    The steering committee for the upcoming 53rd annual Fay B. Kaigler Children’s Book Festival regretfully informs you that the festival and all associated activities are cancelled.


    Out of an abundance of caution and for the safety of festival participants, the committee made the decision to cancel the festival due to the ongoing threat of COVID-19 (coronavirus). No participants have been diagnosed with COVID-19, nor are they showing symptoms; however, a number of speakers and participants have indicated that they will be unable to travel to the festival.


    We understand this is a major inconvenience to festival-goers and a loss to the City of Hattiesburg from an economic and tourism standpoint, but the health and safety of all involved is being prioritized. We hope all of those who are impacted by this cancellation will understand and respect this decision.


    Please visit the Fay B. Kaigler Children’s Book Festival website (https://www.usm.edu/childrens-book-festival) for information on registration return options, or contact registration coordinator Adrienne Patterson (Adrienne.Patterson@usm.edu) with questions regarding previous registration.


    Submitted by
    Karen Rowell

    Assistant to Director & Special Events Coordinator/Children’s Book Festival Coordinator

    The University of Southern Mississippi

  • Wednesday, February 26, 2020 9:10 AM | Anonymous

    Jennifer Brannock, the Curator of Rare Books & Mississippiana at Southern Miss, and Dr. Andrew P. Haley, Southern Miss history professor and food historian, are recipients of an £8,000 ($10,400) grant from the Arts & Humanities Research Council via the University of Sheffield (UK). The grant supported the digitization and transcription of Mississippi community cookbooks with the final products added to Southern Miss’ Digital Collections.


    This grant supported the ongoing work focusing on the Mississippi community cookbook collection at the University of Southern Mississippi, which includes almost 1,000 cookbooks produced by Mississippi churches, woman’s clubs, and other organizations as fundraising tools. The Brookhaven Cook Book, published in 1904, is the earliest book in the collection to date, but the collection is still growing.


    The funding also supports Dr. Haley’s Mississippi Community Cookbook Project, a digital humanities initiative that looks at cookbooks for the surprising insights into the ways Mississippians ate and how they thought about their hometowns, state, and even the world.


    “Participating in the Arts and Humanities Research Council grant from the University of Sheffield has made it possible for Southern Miss to not only share Mississippi’s culinary past with Mississippians, but to make this legacy available to the world.  Ultimately, this project will help to demonstrate that the local is global and the global is local,” said Dr. Haley.


    To view some of the digitized and transcribed cookbooks, search the Digital Collections at https://digitalcollections.usm.edu/. For more information about the Mississippi community cookbook collection and activities, contact Jennifer Brannock at Jennifer.Brannock@usm.edu or 601.266.4347.


    Submitted by
    Jennifer Brannock

    Curator of Rare Books & Mississippiana

    The University of Southern Mississippi


  • Wednesday, February 26, 2020 9:08 AM | Anonymous

    The fine-art students of Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College (MGCCC) Jefferson Davis campus in Gulfport, Mississippi created works of art in conjunction with the Black History Month celebrations taking place throughout the campus. Student paintings and drawings featuring famous African-Americans throughout history were placed on display in the Jefferson Davis Library throughout the month of February 2020.


    Visual Arts faculty member, Cecily Cummings stated, “The students of the classes, Painting II and Drawing II, are studying portraiture this semester, and Black History Month has been the perfect opportunity for them to practice drawing the face”.


    Cummings added that students were also able to share personal experiences with some of the subjects, stating that “after seeing a classmate’s drawing of Malcolm X, another student revealed that he had known Malcolm when he was a young man. Though he [Malcolm] is best known as a passionate human rights activist, the student remembered him as quiet and reflective.” 

    Fine Arts student Morgan Dingman of Gulfport chose to portray Jimi Hendrix. “I wanted to have a very colorful experience for the viewer. I approached painting this piece with an extremely delicate hand and an airy layering of colors. I wanted to capture as much of Jimi's essence in this watercolor portrait as possible,” Dingman said.


    In regards to the partnership between MGCCC’s Fine Arts Department and the Jefferson Davis Library, Cecily Cummings stated “The library has been a great advocate for the arts, displaying works by students year-round.”


    Submitted by
    Shake DeLozier

    Librarian

    Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College



    Painting by Morgan Dingman
    MGCCC student painting featuring Jimi Hendrix


  • Wednesday, February 26, 2020 9:06 AM | Anonymous

    The Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College (MGCCC) Library, in partnership with the University of Southern Mississippi (USM) Gulf Coast Library hosted a half day mini conference on January 24, 2020 from 8:30 a.m. – 12 p.m. The event, Making it Work: Accessibility in the Library, was open to all library staff and faculty and featured three guest presenters: Jamie Stanfield, Science, Nursing and Health Librarian and Assistant Professor at USM Gulf Coast Library; Jamie Olson, Interpreter Training Technology instructor at MGCCC and religious programs director at the de l’Epee Deaf Center; and Aimee McGehee, Student Support Coordinator at MGCCC.


    In her session “Graphic Medicine”, Jamie Stanfield spoke of her work in the emerging genre of graphic medicine and health literacy and covered the benefits and potential pitfalls of adding graphic medicine materials to library collections. Jamie Olson presented “American Sign Language for Librarians”, in which participants were instructed in basic signs that are helpful for those working with library patrons. Aimee McGehee guided participants through a dialogue on common accessibility issues and led group activities which sought to simulate the difficulties that special needs populations may experience in library settings.


    Conference participants enjoyed breakfast and interactive presentations, which included games, questions, and group activities. Facilitator and host Shake DeLozier, MGCCC Librarian stated, “We really hope to make this an annual event. We want to continue to foster collaboration between all the Gulf Coast libraries.” Regarding the mini-conference attendance, Jamie Stanfield noted, “It was great to see so many staff members attend, and the audience engagement was awesome!”


    Submitted by
    Jamie Stanfield

    Science, Nursing and Health Librarian

    The University of Southern Mississippi


  • Wednesday, February 26, 2020 9:03 AM | Anonymous

    Hinds Community College Libraries has hired John Sanders as the Serials and Reference Librarian at the McClendon Library on the Raymond Campus. Prior to joining the HCC team on December 2, 2019, Sanders spent 3 ½ years working in the Interlibrary Loan and Research & Instruction Departments at the University of Mississippi Libraries. John also has 12 years of experience with the Lafayette County and Oxford Public Library. He earned his M.L.I.S. from the University of Alabama in August 2018.



  • Wednesday, February 26, 2020 9:00 AM | Anonymous

    The Waynesboro-Wayne County Library staff were recently honored at the Waynesboro Lions Club Annual Banquet in December 2019. Library Director Patsy Brewer was presented with the Lions Club’s Civil Servant Award during the banquet. In addition to having served on the Board of the Mississippi Library Association, Brewer has served as the director of the Waynesboro-Wayne County Library facility since 1993, earning the library numerous state and national awards. Brewer was honored not only for her dedication to continuous library improvements, but also her extensive contributions to civic organizations and quality of life programs in Wayne County and the surrounding community.


  • Thursday, November 21, 2019 8:55 AM | Anonymous

    Mississippi State University Libraries are pleased to announce the appointment of four new faculty members.


    Marsha Belton is the new Electronic Resources Cataloger, appointed at the rank of Assistant Professor on October 1, 2019. She has 15 years of librarianship experience, which serves her well in her new role at MSU. Marsha will be responsible for cataloging serials, ETDs and other library materials. She serves on the library liaison team for the Agricultural and Life Sciences departments. Prior to this appointment, she worked as Cataloging Librarian at Mississippi Valley State University. Marsha holds a B.S. from Alcorn State University in Agriculture Economics and an M.L.I.S. from The University of Southern Mississippi.


    Blair Booker is the new Assistant Professor/Distance Education and Instruction Librarian.  Blair began her new position in the Research Services department on October 1, 2019.  She has 11 years of experience as an academic librarian, serving most recently as the Serials/Reference Librarian at Hinds Community College.  Blair will work with the MSU distance education students and serve as a subject liaison for the departments of Physics/Astronomy, Mathematics/Statistics, and Geosciences.  Blair holds a B.S. from the University of North Alabama and an M.L.I.S. from the University of Alabama.


    Lauren Geiger was appointed Metadata Librarian at the rank of Assistant Professor, also on October 1, 2019. As a member of the Collection Management Services department, Lauren will be a part of the cataloging unit. She will help expand and create metadata workflows for several departments in the library.  Prior to this appointment, Lauren was a graduate assistant at the Park Library at UNC’s Hussman School of Media Journalism and a docent for the Burwell School Historic Site.  She completed her M.L.S with an Archives and Records Concentration at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.


    Carrie P. Mastley is the newest addition to Mississippi State University Libraries’ Special Collections Department. She was appointed as Manuscripts Librarian on September 1, 2019 at the rank of Assistant Professor. In this role, Carrie will be responsible for making the department’s rare and unique manuscript items accessible and discoverable to patrons. This includes processing collections, creating finding aids, assessing materials for preservation needs, and conducting research consultations and information sessions. Prior to this appointment, Carrie served as the Collection Processor for the Frank and Virginia Williams Collection of Lincolniana. She holds an M.A. in English from Mississippi State University and an M.L.I.S. with a Graduate Certificate in Archives & Special Collections from The University of Southern Mississippi.  




  • Thursday, November 21, 2019 8:36 AM | Anonymous

    Elizabeth G. Hinton, Reference Librarian at Rowland Medical Library, co-edited a book with former UMMC librarian Lauren M. Young, entitled Framing Health Care Instruction: An Information Literacy Handbook for the Health Sciences. The book has just been published by Rowman and Littlefield, as part of their Medical Library Association Books series.


    https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781538118948/Framing-Health-Care-Instruction-An-Information-Literacy-Handbook-for-the-Health-Sciences


     

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