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New library to be located at J.L. King Park |
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Friday, 06 November 2009 |
By KELLY DANIELS
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One of Starkville’s parks now has a new library.
Thanks to Mississippi State’s Day One program students, a group of book shelves are ready to be filled at J.L. King Center on Long Street.
The center is located in the park of the same name.
Kesha Perry, research associate at the John C. Stennis Institute for Government at MSU, mentors the Day One group.
Perry said that the students had been working with the Starkville Parks and Recreation Department staff to clean out rooms at the center for the library.
“I’d like to get some more books for them,” Perry said. “A lot of their stuff is outdated. It hasn’t been used in a while.”
Ryan Holmes, an freshman majoring in biochemistry, built a 6-foot shelf for the library on Saturday.
Holmes, who has a four-year carpentry record, said contributing his time to King Park gave him a feeling of accomplishment and gratitude.
“Hopefully the kids will participate and be encouraged to go to college and make better grades,” he said.
Parks and Recreation Department Director Matthew Rye said the library was a great improvement for the park.
“They worked very hard and we’re very appreciative of the time and effort they put into it,” he said.
The group also includes T.J. Legler, of Brandon, who helped to build the shelves.
“We started early in the morning,” Legler said.
The group went on for six hours after gathering neighbors of the park together for a health fair.
“It’s really important to try to make that area better, because it’s largely overlooked,” Legler said.
Calisia Brown of Grenada said she felt a sense of pride when it was all over.
“It feels really good to be able to help them any way he can,” she said.
The shelves were funded by a donation from Wayne Wilkerson, a professor at MSU.
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Last Updated ( Saturday, 07 November 2009 )
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