Middleton Library: Celebrating Its 50th Year
Lisa Colman’s series on libraries in Hardeman County continues this week with the Middleton Library:
“We always want to connect with our community so we can meet their needs,” is one of the ways Cynthia Scott, Director & Head Librarian describes the Middleton Community Library. “We want to be relevant to the needs of our community with our programs and technologies we offer, as well as the books and other items we have. We never want to lose sight of books!”
Scott, a native of Campbell County in East Tennessee, has fond memories of going to her community library, and remembers it as a welcoming place for everyone in the community. “It was a place in the community where people gathered for all sorts of programs.” When her youngest child was off to kindergarten, she decided to look for a job and the library entered her life in a different way. “There was a position open as the secretary at the high school library, and I started there, learning library systems, cataloging, and those kinds of things. A year later when we moved to Middleton, I was asked about being Director of the library and I was very hesitant because I thought I wasn’t quite ready to do that, but my husband and I prayed and talked about it, and I decided to take the position.”
The Middleton Community Library was established in 1975 as a project of the Middleton Women’s Club. The group started working on the project by looking for a space to house the library; a vacant hallway and classroom at the new high school provided the library’s first home. Club members, along with generous donations of materials and labor from the community, helped build the empty rooms into the library. Club members continued to donate their time to keep the library open, before Evie Pulliam, a former teacher, was hired as the librarian. Changes to the school sent the library looking for other homes, and it moved over the years from a rental house, to a wing of the drug store, and later to a building that now houses the town’s police department. All of these locations were still under the care of the Middleton Women’s Club whose members worked tirelessly to keep the library open; the city took over the major expenses in 1996.
In the early 2000s, discussions started that led to a groundbreaking ceremony in 2003 for the library to have its own building. That building opened in August 2003; Scott joined the library in 2005 and has been its Director since that time. “Former librarians did a lot of work after we had our own building, our own home, to work with the Shiloh Regional Library System so that we could incorporate more automated systems for the library’s collections.” Scott says the word “community” in the name truly describes the library today. “We have always had and continue to have such tremendous and generous support from our community; they truly are the reason we have such a wonderful library here today.”
In addition to Scott the library staff today includes Shirly Parker and Sarah Hopper as Assistant Librarians. Parker, who has worked at Middleton for 16 years, and also worked for the Bolivar Hardeman County Library for four years says, “The library is really a place for the community. People come in here sometimes just to sit and talk – with each other or with us. The library today is so many different things to the people of our community. We are able to offer all sorts of health programs in conjunction with the UT Extension office all throughout the year.”
Hooper who is entering her third year with the library, says, “There are so many programs that we offer throughout the year, that reach so many different needs in a community. We have our STEM program, story hours, a Lego Club, gardening programs, and we are always glad to assist with school projects whether through the school system or the homeschool programs.”
There is an active summer reading program each year and work is going on for this year’s program, “Adventure Starts at the Library”. Programs will be held every Thursday in June at 11:00 a.m. Visitors to the library in the past year have come from many U. S. states, as well as visitors from Australia and the United Kingdom. “When the library in Walnut (Mississippi) had to close,” Scott said, “we have seen an increase in people from that community coming to us. We have people who are able to use our computers, printers, fax, and wifi as their home office, and we get questions every week on just about any topic you can imagine.”
“We have so many good suggestions for programs that come from our patrons,” Scott said. “Our Book Club is a good example of that. We had a patron who asked about starting one and we held our first meeting in February 2020, and then along came Covid, so we had to re-shift the club and go online with suggestions for books. The Book Club restarted in 2023 and has been going since then. Over the years we have done different book clubs for different interest groups and are always looking for more suggestions.”
Scott laughs when people tell her they are surprised that they aren’t shushed in the library these days. “We are definitely not a shhh and be quiet library,” she says. “We want people to engage in our programs and enjoy visiting the library. Of course, different groups and people are sharing the space, so we ask for people to be respectful of that, but the library is definitely a place where we want all of our friends to feel comfortable.”
The library today houses a collection of over 18,000 items that includes books, DVDs, and magazines. “Our most checked out books in 2023 were any books by John Grisham, David Balducci, and Colleen Hoover for adults, and for children and young adults the Dog Man series and the Babysitters Club were popular,” said Hopper. “The Bridgerton series, in books and DVDs, was very popular last year, as well as the Yellowstone series on DVD.”
These librarians are also avid readers and love to recommend some of their favorites. Parker enjoys a wide range of fiction books; Hopper says “The Christmas Spruce is a long-time favorite. I think by reading children’s books, young adult, and all genres of books helps me be better able to assist patrons when they ask for recommendations or are looking for a specific book.” Scott says her current reading list includes books about writing. “My favorite author is Francine Rivers, and her book, Redeeming Love, is my all-time favorite.”
The library has an active and involved Friends of the Library program that is always ready to help out “wherever we need them”, Scott says. “Because of the people before us, as well as all of our supporters now, we are able to know and take care of our patrons in the community. I really believe small town libraries are the hub of their community, and we always want to work toward our future while respecting our past.”
Photo front page: Cynthia Scott, Shirly Parker, and Sarah Hopper enjoy helping their young patrons in the children’s section of the library. Photo above: Cynthia Scott, Director and Head Librarian.