Jackson's library system in need of rebuilding. 'We deserve to have libraries.'

Someone of authority in the City of Jackson needed to speak up for libraries. Councilman Kenneth Stokes was on target when he said, “We deserve to have libraries.”

The veteran city official’s simple but relevant comment appeared Sept. 27 on television station WAPT amid a controversy that erupted when authorities announced closure of the Eudora Welty Library on State Street.

When I first saw that piece of breaking news, I thought:

Another library is closing.

But not just any library.

This one has Eudora Welty’s name on it, the writer who captured one of the most coveted awards in literature and journalism, the Pulitzer Prize, for “The Optimist’s Daughter” in 1973.

Voracious readers across the world are aware that Welty was a Mississippi writer. That’s a good advertisement for the state.

She also snapped poignant photos of Mississippi life for the federal Works Progress Administration in the early 1900s. One particularly iconic photo is of the ruins of Windsor, an antebellum home near Port Gibson, that includes her eminent shadow in the foreground.

But, Welty was better known as a writer of fiction. In fact, she’s considered one of the world’s foremost writers of the genre.

And Jackson is going to demolish its main city library bearing Welty’s name? I found this hard to believe.

The building is in utter disrepair because it has not been properly maintained by its owner, the City of Jackson (not the Jackson-Hinds County Library System, which owns none of the library buildings). And, yes, I understand they’ll find another Jackson building and put her name on that one.

I also realize the state wants to make a “green space” out of the spot of the current Welty facility. I’d rather they use the money to refurbish the library for its most noble purpose: Reading, writing, researching and educating.

Some of Jackson’s other city libraries named for outstanding Mississippians have also suffered neglect and abuse, according to the initial report. The system operates on a $2 million annual budget, which doesn’t seem large enough, considering the needs. Later in September, funds were pumped into the system to help alleviate some of the problems.

The Medgar Evers Library, named for the state’s legendary civil rights leader, has been closed for two months due to a faulty cooling and heating system.

The Willie Morris Library, honoring another of the state’s literary giants, flooded in January due to a leaky water pipe system that wasn’t maintained. Pipe repair is required and new carpeting.

The Richard Wright Library, yet another facility named for a writer of exceptional note, closed three years ago. It needs new plumbing.

The Fannie Lou Hamer Library, one of our coveted civil rights warriors, also has water problems. It remains open, thankfully.

The City of Jackson’s public water system has really made the capital city famous for woes caused by simple neglect. The national television networks can’t do any reporting from Jackson without embarrassing us further by mentioning that decrepit water system.

It happened again recently on a CBS’ “60 Minutes” segment about former Jackson State University football coach Deion Sanders. That report has been widely and soundly denounced in Jackson, particularly by Stokes, who retorted:

"Don't try to create a false narrative that the whole city of Jackson is a waste dump and that all the people in this city are sorry people. We have great people in this city: Black and white, young and old. Show those kinds of things. You can interview a whole lot of people who would tell you a different side of Jackson."

Jackson is certainly better than the CBS report and will be even better when those libraries are back online.

Editor's Note: This column has been updated to correct an earlier version on the ownership of Jackson/Hinds Library System buildings and the budget for the library system.

— Mac Gordon is a native of McComb. He is a retired newspaperman. He can be reached at macmarygordon@gmail.com. 

This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Jackson MS's library system in need of rebuilding