March Madness Outreach at the Pearl Library

The Clock tower outside of Pearl City Hall

This month, I've been visiting the businesses of Pearl in a little initiative I have dubbed "March Madness," though it has nothing to do with basketball. In preparation for National Library Week's "Community Matters" theme, I'm trying to get out into the community to let owners, managers, and employees of Pearl businesses know the kind of services we offer at the Pearl Library. We've got everything from free story times and craft classes to free computer classes and meeting room facilities here. In the next month alone, we're going to have appearances from Marshall Ramsey, James Meredith, the MDAH (speaking about Eudora Welty), and MS Telco (who will do a program on smart savings plans)--and that's just for adults. We have a whole list of programs for children's events, which you can access on our website at http://www.cmrls.lib.ms.us.

Last week, I visited Anytime Fitness, Dollar General, O! How Cute, Los Parrilleros, McAlister's, and Wendy's, and on Monday, I visited more businesses!

First, I stopped by Dunkin' Donuts, which is one of my favorite places to get coffee in Pearl. Furthermore, DD has partnered with us for several initiatives, like our Come in from the Cold program where we gave out free donuts and coffee in February. The manager, Willie, was in a meeting, so I talked to one of the cashiers and got a dee-licious cup of hot coffee to help me stay alert during the rest of my visits!

Next, I went to see Alana Robertson at MS Telco Federal Credit Union. Alana and the other people at MS Telco have been great supporters of our library; they donated all of the delicious food for our Youth Art Month Reception, and they're going to help us with our Money Smart Week programming in April. As always, Alana was beautifully coiffed and enthusiastic about working with the library. Thanks, Alana!

After MS Telco, I went to Tinseltown and met Mr. Keen, the manager. I've seen so many movies at Tinseltown, and it was  nice to be able to let him know about the services we have for him and his employees. While I was there, I also noticed that a recent movie featuring Jennifer Lawrence is still playing. I thought I had missed it, so I'll probably be in there in the next couple of weeks to see it!

The Mississippi Braves!

From Tinseltown, I headed into Braves territory. First, I stopped by the MS Braves office and talked to Miranda, Gene, and the new receptionist about the Pearl Library. Our reference librarian Cecelia and her husband are both avid Braves supporters, so I mentioned that for good measure. I can't wait for baseball season to begin! After going to the Braves office, I went to the Holiday Inn at Trustmark Park and talked to Brenda and Jessica. First, I have to say that that facility is just gorgeous. Also, Brenda and Jessica were a lot of fun to talk to, and I hope I can lure them in to some of our awesome programs here!

Speaking of lures, I went to the Bass Pro Shop next. While I'm not much of a sportsman (sportslady?), I did take my daughter to get her first Santa picture there, so there is quite a soft spot in my heart for that store! Also, we get lots of Bass Pro Shop employees in here, checking their schedules and using our computer lab. So I was happy to get to talk to Lisa, the manager, about our programs, and I hope we can see more partnerships with Bass Pro in the future!

Finally, I went to Sam's. Sam's has been such a great ally of our library--the team there has given us many donations over the years, and we love having their support. All of the managers were in a meeting, so I left some calendars and candy with the customer service cashier, and I've got big plans for making a phone call later on today to talk to the manager and advertise our services.

I know this post was long, but it is so important to us that the community members know how much we appreciate all that they do for us and all that they contribute to the City of Pearl. See you soon for my next installment of March Madness!!