East Mississippi Regional is celebrating their 50th year anniversary this year. The library system formed in 1966 and is joined with Jasper County with a total of six branches.
The project was funded through the Mississippi Library Commission and originally included Clarke, Jasper and Wayne counties.
Headquarters for the library system is in Quitman at the Quitman Public Library where Josh Haidet serves as director for EMRL.
Four of the branches are located in Clarke County with libraries in Quitman, Stonewall, Enterprise and Pachuta. In Jasper County the branches are located in Bay Springs and Heidelberg.
The local library is a vital part of the community and offers a wide range of services to patrons free of charge, with the exception of the printing services.
“We have what is expected of us – thousands of books and we can almost always get a book through our interlibrary loan system,” Haidet said.
Over 35,000 items were checked out from just the Clarke County libraries between May 2015 to June 2016 and 30,240 library visits from patrons.
Beside a vast assortment of reading materials, EMRL also offers many other services including audio books and large print books for the hearing and vision impaired. The book players for audio books can be sent directly to the patron’s home.
“This is a fantastic program,” Haidet said. “This service is offered free of charge and the book players are mailed from the Library Commission directly to the person’s home.”
All libraries in EMRL offer computers with Wi-Fi and high speed internet.
“All of our computers have productivity software including Word, Excel and Power Point, which is very helpful for those doing reports,” Haidet said. There were over 10,000 patron computer sessions last year as well.
Other services include a 3D printer which can help with educational and medical projects. “We wanted to introduce the kids to a new technology with the 3D printer,” Haidet said. “This printer was purchased through grant money thru the Mississippi State Extension Service.”
EMRL also offers E-books with over 2,700 books to choose from and they can be sent electronically to any digital device free of charge. There are never any late fees or fine on E-books and patrons can select up to four at a time.
The library has thousands of DVD movies including the newest releases with a check out period of two days. Books can be checked out for two weeks and patrons can check out up to 10 items at a time – all at no charge!
“The DVD is a big service through the library and we offer all genres of movies. We have the newest releases as soon as they come out,” Haidet said.
There is a wide selection of genealogy information and microfilm available.
The printing services include black & white and color copies, fax services and document scans.
The Summer Reading Program is a big part of the services offered with fun reading programs for school age children.
“We usually spread out the summer programs over a month and this is an opportunity for kids to have fun during the summer where educational programs are snuck in,” Haidet said. “This is a fun way to teach the kids to remember to read, encourages reading and reinforces what they learned in school.”
The Summer Reading Program rewards the kids with prizes.
The Summer Reading Program does rely on donations and Haidet said the generosity of those in the community is awesome.
“The support and generosity of the community is great. They are so supportive of the kids and this is a vital part of what we do and we strive to do it,” Haidet added.
Funding for the library comes from local tax dollars and through state funding
Haidet concluded by saying the best way to support your local library is just by walking through the door and visiting the library.
“We are busy much more now than when I first started,” Haidet said. “But we will continue to work as hard as we always have.” Staff members of EMRL include Josh Haidet as director; Sue Coats, Business Manager; Barbara O’Neil and Alicia Underwood, Quitman Librarians; Michelle Kulick, Stonewall Library; Jane Evans, Enterprise and Wilma Johnson, Pachuta Library.
The library is open Monday, Tuesday and Thursday 8 – 6 p.m. and Wednesday 7:30 a.m. – 6 p.m.
You can visit the website for a complete listing of resources at emrl.lib.ms.us
