The staff of the Mississippi Library Commission wish you a joyous holiday season!

The Appreciation of Good

by Hulen Bivins, Executive Director

The year 2024 has been a challenging time for libraries and librarians. Unprecedented attacks against both entities have been made that have challenged concurrently the intellectualism and the professionalism of those curators of knowledge. These curators are devoted to the task of providing aid to the under-educated and those who seek greater knowledge. With the conclusion of another calendar year, may we all offer thanks for our country’s freedoms, our families, and our friends - all this merges with the holiday season’s joys of warmth and peace, and the season’s appreciation of good. It is at this time of year that many think of stories of trust and truth that both motivate and bring contentment. Following is such a story.

A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items before him. When the class began, he wordlessly picked up a large, empty jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls. He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was. The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. As the pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls, the Professor asked the students again if the jar was full. They all agreed it was. The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. As the sand filled up everything else in the jar, he asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with a unanimous “yes.” The professor then produced a pitcher of water from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar effectively filling the space between the sand particles. As the students remained attentive, the Professor asked the students if his illustrative talk had any meaning. Some students said “yes” while most said “no.”

The Professor then began an explanation saying the students should recognize that the jar represents your life and that the golf balls represent important personal things in one’s life. These personal things would be your family, your children, your health, your friends, and your favorite passions. It was stated that if everything else was lost and only the passions remained, every individual’s life would still have the potential to be full. The Professor then said that the pebbles are the other things that matter in life like your job, your house, and your car while the sand is everything else - the small stuff. If you put the sand into the jar first, he continued, there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls. The Professor noted that the same goes for life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, you will never have room for the things that are important to you. The emphasis of the Professor’s comments was everyone should pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Spend time with your children, your parents, and remember to visit with others - greet them with a smile. Understand there will always be time to clean the house, cut the grass, and fix the disposal. Remember to take care of the golf balls first - the things that matter and establish those things as your priorities. Know that the rest is just sand.

One of the students raised their hand and inquired what the water represented. The professor smiled and said, "I am glad you asked." The water shows you that no matter how full your life may seem, there’s always time for a new friend, a new experience, a new joy, and a new success.

The Mississippi Library Commission, its Board of Commissioners, and its employees extend to all individuals our hope for a wonderful holiday season and a progressive new year filled with success!

MLC hosted its November director meeting as a leadership symposium for public library directors and MLC staff supervisors. The event featured an outside presenter with two and a half days of intensive leadership training. Libraries serve not only as centers for learning but also as vital hubs for community engagement and innovation. The symposium aimed to equip library directors and staff with actionable strategies to inspire and motivate their teams, implement creative solutions to address community challenges, and elevate patron services and engagement.

We also solicited feedback from our staff regarding their insights gained during the training. Their responses have been overwhelmingly positive and insightful.

"I enjoyed the leadership training and appreciated the collaborative opportunities the presenter built into the course. Going through the training with colleagues was very enlightening, and I learned a great deal by listening to others share their situations and stories." Miranda Loper, Talking Book Services Director.

"While learning about our personal behavioral matrix, I was introduced to the term 'style flexing.' This is when you have an awareness about your personal behavior styles and choose to practice other styles to adapt your way of being. Building this skill could make working in teams more successful/less stressful and is one tool I plan to implement in my work with MLC." Lacy Ellinwood, Lead Library Consultant.

"As an E-Rate Coordinator, I plan to incorporate these concepts by using transformative questions in remote sessions with library directors, like, “What challenges are you facing with the E-Rate application this year?” I will practice active listening to accurately understand their needs and create clear resources about the E-Rate program’s eligibility and processes, along with timely follow-ups for clarification." Sharmaine Frazier, State E-Rate Coordinator.

"I learned a lot about the value of listening in leadership and the value of coaching. I have already been practicing my coaching skills and am so impressed with the results!" Alex Brower, Information Services Director.