Photo: First Regional Library Marketing Manager David Brown and Director Lori Barnes with T-shirts over the years to promote the system’s Summer Reading Program. (Bob Bakken/desotocountynews.com)
April 7, 2025 – Back in 1947, a group of women came to the DeSoto County Board of Supervisors armed with reading material. The women, known as the Citizen’s Library Movement of DeSoto County, advocated a plan for a library system with benefits for DeSoto and neighboring counties.
From the initial proposal, the First Regional Library (FRL) system began in 1950 with branches in DeSoto, Panola, and Tate counties.
The First Regional Library system now encompasses 14 branches in five counties of northwest Mississippi with the addition of libraries in Lafayette and Tunica counties. A celebration of 75 years of FRL as the strongest and most successful regional library system in the state is Tuesday, April 8 at the system headquarters in Hernando. The event starts at 3 p.m. with a program being held at 4 p.m.
At the program, DeSoto County Supervisor Lee Caldwell will present a proclamation from the Board of Supervisors. State Sen. Michael McLendon (R-Hernando) will give remarks, a monetary donation to the FRL system will be given by Hernando Rotary Club president Jon Stevenson and a musical presentation will be offered by the Tunica Gospel Choir. Mississippi Library Commission Executive Director Hulen Bivens will also offer remarks.
The system is governed by a board of directors, one from each of the five counties appointed by that county’s Board of Supervisors.
FRL Director Lori Barnes said the libraries see several thousand visitors a month with just under a million circulations a year.
“That includes all forms of what we circulate, books, DVDs, books on CD, as well as our eBooks,” Barnes said. “We’re probably not quite up to as high as pre-COVID numbers, but we’re very, very close and I believe we’ve even surpassed pre-COVID numbers when it comes to the number of programs that we are offering and the program attendance.”
A photo of the Citizen’s Library Movement of DeSoto County, who advocated officials for a multi-county library system. (Courtesy First Regional Library)
Local and state funding and support are vital to the high level of service to the community that libraries offer and Barnes points out that everything is free of charge to users.
“The big programming series that we have every year is our summer reading program,” Barnes said. “We will have hundreds, if not thousands of children that we serve during that six-to-eight week period in the summertime.”
During this year’s 75th anniversary celebration, the library is holding a contest to promote reading to youngsters by challenging children to read 75 books during the year through the end of July. There will be a prize drawing for those that can step up and complete the challenge.
From youth to senior adults, First Regional Library branches continue to offer something for everyone and FRL has also adjusted to the growing dependence on technology to receive information and reading material.
“Now we have digital reading materials,” Barnes said. “Some people will tell you they want to hold a book in their hand and there’s still a large percentage of our patrons that feel that way. But we have people who use the library, check out everything online, and never even walk through our doors.”
Barnes adds that technology has changed what FRL has offered over the years, from online books and encyclopedias, college testing prep, and how it is offered to its patrons.
The American Library Association has declared this week as National Library Week with the theme of “Drawn to the Library,” and the First Regional Library hopes you will be drawn back to use the free services of your local library during its 75-year anniversary celebration.
It’s amazing what the power of a library card can provide.
