Pearl Public Library: Humble Beginnings

The Pearl River, which separates Pearl on the East side from Jackson on the West today, initially brought settlers to the area for agricultural purposes. Jackson, MS became the state capitol in 1822. In the 1940s, development from the capital city spilled over into Rankin county and more and more residents were calling it home. 

As all members of a civilized society will tell you, the town needed a library!  Residents of Rankin County were growing tired of having to cross the river and go to Jackson for basic needs. One library patron recalls having to go to Jackson for decent clothing at Howard's Department Store on Ellis Ave. Jackson also had the only children's clinic near the Jackson Mall off of Medgar Evers Blvd. All library needs were also being met in the capital city. In 1966, a library was established in Bright Shopping Center in what is now the Country Fisherman Cafe. 

City of Pearl Historian Chris Reid shared the following about the new library construction: 

In July of 1976, the Pearl Board of Alderman approved a contract with architect Charles F. Craig for the construction of a new library. By April 1977, the library's construction was well underway. The effort began 9 years earlier when the Director of the Rankin County Library System, Vance H. Dyess, applied for a matching grant through the Mississippi Library Commission to build a new library. Under the terms of the grant, the $400,000 construction cost would be split equally between the Library Commission and the City of Pearl, as funds became available to the Commission from the state legislature. When Dyess first applied for the grant, Pearl was No. 36 on the list and it took until 1976 to move to the No. 1 spot.

Unfortunately by 1977, the city was plagued with infrastructure issues and many citizens felt that the $200,000 price tag that Pearl was responsible for could be put to better use elsewhere. It was a hard choice -- either build at that time, and at the minimum square footage of 15,000 or lose any chance of getting the grant again. 

Fortunately, the need for a library won out! On November 14, the former library closed and began transitioning its materials (some 20,000 volumes) to the new facility at 3470 Highway 80 East. On January 15, 1978, the grand opening was held with guest speakers Evelyn Gandy, Lieutenant Governor of Mississippi, Jim Buck Ross, Commissioner of Agriculture, and Mayor Harris Harvey.

The Pearl Press - March 3, 1977

The Pearl Press - April 21, 1977

In October of 1986, Hinds County pulled out to create its own library system and the Pearl Library became the Headquarters location for a brand new library system! That's right folks, the Central Mississippi Regional Library System was born. 

"The Library on the Hill" 1987

Penny Donald Stewart, a former Pearl Library shelver shared a story with us: "In high school, I worked as a shelver at the library on the hill during the evening and weekend hours. Before we used computers to do research (aka the internet), I took a phone call from a gentleman wanting to know what "E pluribus unum" on the back of our currency meant. We did not have any research librarians that worked in the evenings so I went on a search on my own. After checking latin dictionaries and the like I recruited Billy, my shelving co-worker. We searched for quite some time when I had the thought to use the World Book encyclopedias in the children's department. There it was! E pluribus unum meaning "out of many, one" referring to the thirteen original colonies becoming one nation."

She went on to say, "That experience helped solidify my desire to work as a librarian even though it took me another 25 years to return to the library world. The fact that sometimes the simplest, easiest tool can be the best was a lesson I never forgot."

Penny is now a Patron Services Specialist at Blount County Public Library in Maryville, TN.

The Rankin County News featured the Pearl Library weekly and here are some updates from August 1987. As you can see, the library has changed a lot since then! The library is boasting a purchase of Reader's Guide as far back as 1930 and magazines dating from 1980. Also, new VHS tapes on home improvement and the ACT have been acquired. The Babysitters Club series is available, and boy that brings me back! The Pearl Library in this location was right up the hill from my house growing up. My sister and I would walk there and check out all of the Babysitters Club and Goosebumps books. 

In 2005, a brand new library was built in the current location at 2416 Old Brandon Road right next to the old high school which is now City Hall. Today we have numerous digital resources, a computer lab, programs for every age group, and our card catalogs are all online. But as former Pearl staffer Penny says, sometimes the simplest way to find information is through an encyclopedia or physical book. Good thing we still have plenty of those too!