Before we get to the story of the Harrisville Library, I feel that you need to know a little bit about the history of the community.
Harrisville is located 13 miles West of Mendenhall. The community wasn't always known as Harrisville. When the community was established it was called "Buck Snort". When they established the post office in 1860, the name was changed to Harrisville after H. H. Harris who settled in the community prior to 1860.
Driving through Harrisville now you wouldn't believe it was once a bustling little town. H. C. Carrot was the first postmaster, along with running the post office he ran a general store. J. T. Rodger built a grist mill & sawmill in the early days. The school was taught in the Methodist Church until 1890 when a nice two-story schoolhouse was built. in the 1900s a rice mill, a cotton gin, and a blacksmith shop were also built. At the turn of the century, Harrisville boasted three general stores, a drug store, a blacksmith shop, four doctors, two churches, a school, and a Masonic Lodge. All that was missing was a library.
In 1974 The Harrisville Library Committee was formed. It was sponsored by the Senior Citizens Club. When the library was first formed it was first located in a storage room of a store owned by the Iveys'. It contained about four shelves and had about five hundred books that were supplied by the MS Library Commission. In 1977, Willie Jean Shorter, who was a member of the Friends of the Library Group was drafted by the community as a volunteer Librarian. She served in a volunteer capacity for many years before becoming a paid staff member. Harrisville Public Library became part of the Jackson Metropolitan Library, then in 1986 the system split and Rankin, Scott, Smith, and Simpson formed the Central Mississippi Regional Library System.
When the library began to outgrow the location at Ivey's store, two more buildings were used, one at the school and the other at a small building not far from its current location. That building is still standing but in bad shape. Patrons that were children at the time tell me that it had a small room downstairs where Mrs. Shorter held story time and library events.
The community wanted more, they wanted a "real" library. In 1990 the Friends started fundraising and seeking donations from businesses and private donors. On April 17, 1991, groundbreaking ceremonies were held on land donated by the county. The community did it, through fundraising and donations they raised the money to build their real library. To help keep down the cost of the building, community members donated their time, skills, and labor to build the library. In February 1993, the Harrisville Community cut the ribbon to open their new building. On April 18, 1993, they held a dedication ceremony inviting the public and state representatives to enjoy their new library. There is a plaque in the library with the names of individuals, businesses, and organizations that helped build the library.
Mrs. Willie Jean Shorter went on the serve as a librarian for many more years until her retirement. After Mrs. Shorter's retirement, Harrisville Library had several more librarians until June 2013, when Kathie Ward was hired for the position.
The summer library program has always been very popular and continues to bring in kids from all over the community. We have added more programs over the years such as bingo, family game night, craft programs, etc. We also have computers for the public to use along with free WiFI. Services we offer include, faxing, black & white and color printing, and scanning to email. We have several digital resources as well including, World Book Encyclopedia, Freegal Music (free legal music - downloads and streaming), Cloud Library (eBook & e Audios), Rocket Language, Flipster (digital magazines), and so much more and more to come.
The Harrisville Library has come a long way since 1974. If you haven't been in the library in a while, I would like to encourage you to stop by. Check out our new books, and our DVD collection, or just stop in for a visit with Mrs. Kathie.
I wanted to include some photos that I found while searching for information on the library. Some are articles from past programs at the old library(s) and others are pictures from the school and community.
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