Showing posts with label Forest. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Forest. Show all posts

Tuesday, February 9, 2021

Swaying Elephants: It’s Complicated


Whether you are celebrating Valentine’s Day or Anti-Valentine’s Day, music will likely help set the mood. We will get back to Anti-Valentine’s later, but first, let us explore the relationship between music and love. It is such a powerful part of the human experience, choosing the perfect playlist to play when you are with your special someone can help make your Valentine’s Day magical.

First, a little history of this lovely day. The origins of Valentine’s Day are a little muddled, but we know that it started during Roman times approximately 500 A.D. Sadly, music, flowers, and chocolates were not involved. Poets Shakespeare and Chaucer romanticized this holiday into what we know it as today. Now, here comes the music part. Shakespeare, being the incredible artist that he was, recognized how music influenced people’s emotions well before scientific research proved it. In 1853, a scientific study was conducted on elephants to search for evidence connecting music to pleasure and love. Why elephants though? Elephants have intellectual and emotional similarities to humans (Bonus science lesson). Anyway, when the elephants heard the music, they began to experience pleasure and were observed touching and swaying with one another as if moving to the beat. Finally, in 1954, Oxford published a formal study in the journal Music and Letters. People, not animals, were tested and the study discovered how music directly stimulated the thalamus gland to produce excess endorphins that can either heighten or dampen one’s mood. Since 1953, many studies have been conducted that emphasize very similar findings, from elephants to endorphins and emotions.

Now for the not so loveliness of Anti-Valentine’s Day. Anti-Valentine’s Day or Singles Awareness Day (SAD) was started in 2001 by Dustin Barnes right here in Mississippi (Bonus history lesson). Dustin started it while in high school and carried the tradition on to Mississippi State University. It became official in 2005. And here comes the music part… in 2009, musician Joseph Vincent wrote a SAD song. It explains how many people actually feel about Valentine’s Day. Of course, many artists have written hundreds of anti-love songs so you can enjoy not being a victim of Cupid’s arrow.

So, whether you are dragging out your lutes and harps, 8 tracks, mixed tapes, or downloading songs from FreegalMusic to make the perfect playlist, music is the first thing you need for the perfect Valentine’s Day (or Anti-Valentine’s Day).

Wednesday, May 13, 2020

Library Services Update



May 12, 2020
Dear Valued Library Patron
On behalf of our entire family of libraries, we want to thank you for your support during the past couple of months. While our doors were physically closed to you, our Central Mississippi Regional Library System Board of Trustees and Library Team was committed to providing digital services which included access to eBooks, Databases, eContent, free WiFi at all branches. We are grateful that you have continued to support us from a distance. Because of your support, we have been able to promote safety for our communities and our library team. We sincerely appreciate your vast loyalty and look forward to having you visit our libraries again soon.
From the beginning of the pandemic, we have continued to prioritize the health and well-being of our library team members and library patrons. As we enter phased reopening plans in our branches, we want to inform you of the practices and safety protocols we are following to ensure our libraries remain a safe place to work and provide library services. Below is a list of policies and operations that our libraries will be following, along with estimated dates of when each location plans to reopen.
We kindly ask that you refrain from visiting our libraries if you have any symptoms (coughing, shortness of breath, sore throat, vomiting or diarrhea), if you have had a fever of 100.4 in the past 48hrs, or if you have been in close contact with a confirmed case of COVID19. Additionally, we request your participation in our social distancing practices to safeguard our CMRLS team and patrons. Thank you for your assistance in this matter!
Libraries will follow all local guidelines to open at specified capacity rates.
  1. In-person library programming, such as but not limited to story times and book clubs, will not be offered until further notice.
  2. The Library Team Member is required to undergo a series of health screening questions before entering the building. Those showing any signs of symptoms or fever are prohibited from entering the library.
  3. Study tables and computer stations are seated at least 6ft apart from one another.
  4. Availability of computers will be limited. We will adhere to thirty-minute sessions to allow for others to use computers. Free Wifi can be accessed on the outside of the library building.
  5. Curbside Document Delivery Services such as printing, copying and faxing are available for a fee. Wireless printing is available at select branches: Flowood, Pearl, Magee, Mendenhall, Forest.
  6. Notary services are available for a nominal fee at the following branches: Flowood, Magee, Mendenhall
  7. Library Team Members are required to wear protective masks and gloves with frequent glove changes and hand washing.
  8. Tables, chairs, and other library surfaces are sanitized after every use.
  9. High-touch areas such as doorknobs, screens, restrooms, etc. are sanitized frequently throughout each shift.
  10. Antibacterial soap and hand sanitizer are readily available for Library Team Members and patrons in the libraries.
  11. Library Team Members are provided proper training and guidance on safety protocols and steps to minimize the spread of COVID19.
  12. Meeting room use and study room use are discontinued until further notice.

CMRLS has a plan for our libraries. The first part of the plan includes opening Book Drops and offering Curbside Services. During this phase, patrons will not be allowed to enter our libraries.

Book drops at selected locations will be open starting Monday, May 18, 2020. All returned items will be quarantined for fourteen (14) days in the designated and approved area in the library. The returned items will be in quarantine. Items will remain on the patron’s account until the quarantine period is completed. However, it should not hinder the patron from borrowing more items.


We will continue to closely monitor the recommendations of local health departments and authorities to ensure we are serving you in the safest way possible.


Warm regards,


Mara V. Polk
Executive Director