People’s opinion of public libraries is as high as ever, but that isn’t translating into library visits and usage.

Annual reports from the Mississippi Library Commission show that library circulation per capita — that is, the number of library materials being circulated per person in a library’s given patron population — declined over five years. 

State libraries saw about a 43% decline in materials being checked out from the library between 2018 and 2022, the latest year for which figures are available, with a slight rebound from the 2020 pandemic period.

Mississippi’s numbers mirror a national trend. Physical library visits have been decreasing for years, dropping sharply because of the pandemic. Today, more people are visiting than during the pandemic, but still not as many as before 2020.

At the same time, public opinion of libraries remains high. A 2024 survey from YouGov  found that 85% of respondents had a favorable opinion of public libraries, 47% said they should get more funding, and 53% said public libraries were very important to the community. A 2023 report from the American Library Association found that 54% of Gen Z and Millennials had visited a library in the past year.

“It’s wide open for libraries to be a true community hub,” said Kristina Kelly, public relations coordinator for the Mississippi Library Commission.

Kelly believes one reason some people don’t visit libraries is because they don’t know what services are offered. 

Libraries offer a wide variety of services and resources. “We do address problems that patrons have that go beyond reference, beyond literacy,” said David Muse, branch manager of the G. Chastaine Flynt Memorial Library.

And Mississippi’s literacy rate ranks among the lowest in the nation.

Much of the recent media attention on libraries is on book bans. The American Library Association found that censorship in public libraries increased by 92% in 2023. State law in Mississippi prohibits public and school libraries from working with digital content vendors that offer “sexually oriented materials.”

Mississippi’s libraries have other issues that keep people away. For example, several libraries in the Jackson/Hinds system are in disrepair due to lack of funding and years of neglect. Three libraries are closed, and one of them, the main Eudora Welty Library, is set to be demolished and turned into a greenspace. 

“The state should evaluate creative ways to support library infrastructure so that the physical spaces remain open, whether that is putting more authority into the hands of the library systems themselves, increasing state-level funding, or even creative solutions like establishing revolving loan funds for library facilities or opening other similar government programs to library systems,” said Peyton Smith, board chairman of the Jackson/Hinds library system 

Libraries allow patrons to access a variety of materials from DVDs to plant seeds. For many people it’s the only way they can access the internet. BroadbandNow ranks Mississippi 45th in internet coverage, speed, and availability. 

People can use apps like OverDrive, Hoopla, and more to browse ebooks, videos, and music through their local library. Libraries also offer programming for all ages. 

Verna Myers, a 77-year-old retired teacher, has been going to the library for over 70 years. She reads to the children every Wednesday. “You can get everything here – DVDs, CDs, movies, books. You can get a lot of material that we could not get.”

Angel Walton, 22, says library programs expanded her horizons. “The library introduced me to so many different activities that I didn’t know people from Mississippi could have the opportunity [to do],” she said.

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

Deep South Today is a nonprofit network of local newsrooms that includes Mississippi Today and Verite News.

Founded in 2016, Mississippi Today is now one of the largest newsrooms in the state, and in 2023 it won the Pulitzer Prize for Local Reporting. Verite News launched in 2022 in New Orleans, where it covers inequities facing communities of color. With its regional scale and scope, Deep South Today is rebuilding and re-energizing local journalism in communities where it had previously eroded, and ensuring its long-term growth and sustainability.

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This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

It has been over 10 months since a committee tasked with advising the Mississippi Division of Medicaid last met, despite being required by law to meet quarterly.

The agency postponed the committee’s scheduled meeting for Friday and did not set a new date. Medicaid spokesperson Matt Westerfield said the meeting was canceled because of the “transition in executive leadership” after Executive Director Drew Snyder announced his resignation earlier this month.

The Medical Care Advisory Committee is a federally mandated public body that offers expertise and opinions to the Division of Medicaid about health and medical care services. It is made up of doctors, managed care organization representatives and other Medicaid stakeholders.

The advisory group has not met yet this year because new member appointments – made by the governor, lieutenant governor and house speaker – were not finalized until August, said Medicaid spokesperson Matt Westerfield.

The committee’s recommendations have played a crucial role in crafting state Medicaid policy in the past. In 2023, the advisory group’s recommendation contributed to the Legislature’s passage of postpartum Medicaid coverage. 

The advisory group’s last meeting was Dec. 8, 2023. 

At that meeting, Snyder and a hospital CEO stalled a vote on pregnancy presumptive eligibility, which allows eligible low-income women to receive timely prenatal care, by suggesting that the committee wait to review further information about the policy at a special meeting in January. 

The special meeting never happened. 

Regardless, the Legislature passed a bill that allows low-income pregnant women to be presumed eligible for health care coverage while their Medicaid application is being processed in May 2023. 

No minutes were produced from the December meeting, said Westerfield. Mississippi’s public records law requires that minutes be kept for all meetings of a public body. 

The committee is composed of at least 11 members appointed by the governor, lieutenant governor and the Speaker of the House of Representatives. All members must be health care providers or consumers of health services, and each official must include a board-certified physician among their appointments. 

Mississippi Medicaid Executive Director Drew Snyder also made appointments to the committee in accordance with state law and new federal regulations released in April. 

Gov. Tate Reeves made his appointments in February, Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann in July, and Speaker of the House Jason White and Snyder in August. 

Hosemann’s spokesperson did not answer a question about the delay in appointments. White did not respond to a request for comment. 

Westerfield said the new federal requirements for the committee affected the timing of Snyder’s appointments. 

The federal policy, which went into effect July 9, heightens the role that beneficiaries play in shaping Medicaid programs and policy. 

The rule requires states to establish a Beneficiary Advisory Council composed solely of Medicaid members, their families and caregivers. Some of those members will serve on the Medical Care Advisory Committee, which will be renamed the Medicaid Advisory Committee, beginning next year.

Mississippi law requires the Medicaid Advisory Committee to provide a written report to the Governor, Lt. Governor and Speaker of the House of Representatives before Nov. 30. 

The current members of the committee are as follows: 

• Dr. Jason Dees (Molina Healthcare)
• Dr. Wade Dowell (Indianola Family Medical Group)
• Ellen Friloux (North Mississippi Medical Center)
• Dr. Anita Henderson (Hattiesburg Clinic)
• Joy Hogge (Families as Allies)
• Bennet Hubbard (Advanced Healthcare Management)
• Dr. Jim Hurt (Columbus Orthopaedics)
• Dr. Billy Long (GI Associates, retired)
• Dr. Charles O’Mara (University of Mississippi Medical Center, retired)
• Lesa McGillivray (UnitedHealthcare Community and State)
• Dr. Craig Moffett (Maben Medical Clinic)
• Kent Nicaud (Memorial Health System Hospital at Gulfport)
• Richard Roberson (Mississippi Hospital Association)
• Michael Todaro (Magnolia Health Plan)
• Dr. Marty Tucker (University of Mississippi Medical Center)

The committee also has eight non-voting members, including legislators.

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.