An enthusiastic crowd of Choctaw County residents attended the Grand Re-opening of the Weir Branch of the Choctaw County Library which had been closed since November 2017, when the Board of Supervisors made the decision to separate from the Tombigbee Regional Library System.
Board President, Joey Stephenson stated that the decision was made because Choctaw County was actually paying more into that system that some larger counties and was seeing very little benefit. The County subsequently made the decision to fully fund the library, apart from any library system.
Cristin Chandler was chosen as the Library Director, and Stephenson said that she has done an excellent job in getting the libraries reorganized and open for business and offering many new services to residents.
Chandler said, “We have finally expanded our capacity enough to be able to handle the two branches.” She added that the Weir Library has a lot of new books, as many of the older ones were damaged due to humidity and had to be thrown away.
Some other services that the library offers are wi-fi, computers for public use, and programming for seniors and children. The Weir Library will be open on Monday and Thursday from 9 a.m. until noon, and from 1 p.m. until 5 p.m. Chandler added that if the need and use increases, they will look at increasing the hours of operation.
Weir Mayor Shuni Coffey said that the re-opening means excitement, and a resource for the community. She added that adults, as well as children, are excited as the library gives them a place to socialize and take advantage of the many resources provided. Coffey added that the Town of Weir helped with some of the cosmetic work, such as painting and landscaping and electrical work, much of which was volunteer labor.
Stephenson stated that it is exciting to see young people using the county libraries, as the youth are the future of the community. He added that the County’s money is being well spent and he has heard only positive comments about the work that is being done.
The visitors at the Grand Re-opening shared refreshments and were able to see all the work that has gone into the library. Elizabeth Rester pointed out that there is a room with used books for sale, and a special hand-crafted box for those donations which was given to the library by M.P. Busby.
Chandler credited the hard work of the Library Board of Trustees: Jer Littlejohn, Billy Ganann, Mattie McDaniel, Jaime Blake and Gail Shurden, and the Library Staff: Lara Taylor, Jean Ann Brock, Jessie Dempsey and Allen Cooper-Potts.
