Librarian on Tour~ City of Long Beach, Mississippi
My new blog series will be based on small-town libraries, state and church archives as well as larger university libraries and archives.
The first library will be one of two city-operated libraries in the state of Mississippi and is located on the Mississippi Gulf Coast in Long Beach. The library has recently added many programs to promote reading among the children and teenagers of the city and local communities.
The library of the City of Long Beach can trace its history to 1895 with the donation of 250 books by Mrs. Garland Ferguson and according to the information on the Library's history webpage, the library has been in a hand-full of various locations, with one of those being in the old Hancock Bank building, which is still in existence and is located on Jeff Davis Ave. The building that is used now is also located on the same Avenue and has survived several hurricanes, but Hurricane Katrina decided to push 3.5 feet of water into the library, which in turn destroyed many books as well as taking a wall with it. (See the Long Beach Library webpage to view photographs of the damage as well as other historical photographs as they are related to the history of the library. https://longbeach.lib.ms.us/)
Since then the library has been repaired and many books have been donated, the library provides not only a children's library room, but a reference area, and even a place that has been provided for the teens. The wonderful part about the library is that the layout of the library has been created in such a way that the children's area keeps the sounds of the children from reaching the patrons who desire a quiet area in which to read, research, or peruse the internet. This is a feature that is not available in all libraries and makes the Long Beach Library a wonderful asset to the city and its patrons.
The library also offers Preschool Story Time, special theme related events, audio books, DVD's, Inter-Library Loan, Internet Access, Online Catalog, and a summer reading program. as well as providing many online resources. The Library of the City of Long Beach is a proud ambassador of the community it serves.
So next time you are in Long Beach, Mississippi, make sure you stop by the library and please do not be afraid to ask the librarians about the areas local history or the locals favorite places to enjoy dinner while looking over the Mississippi sound. And if you are lucky, you might visit when the library staff are dressing up as characters from your favorite Dr. Seuss Book or celebrating the birthday of Harry Potter.
