About Pickens and the Library

The Town of Pickens, Mississippi, is located in the southeast corner of Holmes County, the second poorest county in the United States, and is situated on the Big Black River. It began as a ferry point over the river and as a trading post. Today, Pickens serves as a commercial area for the surrounding rural community, with a Dollar General and The Pickens Post Office.

The Pickens Public Library, likewise, serves the greater surrounding rural area and the town of Pickens. Most importantly, the Library helps serve the children of the Goodman Pickens Elementary School, which has a 43% reading rate. It provides the only public access to computers and the internet, a meeting place for the citizens, and a point of distribution of information. With few resources, our deserving community needs this development to overcome the lingering vestiges of slavery, Jim Crow, and poverty. Friends of the Pickens Public Library has enthusiastic community and State support, but we need more.

The time is NOW! Failure is not an option for our children and families. Please join us in this important mission.

Interview With Belinda Stewart

Belinda is an Architect and founder/principal of Belinda Stewart Architects, PS.  FPPL has hired BSA to begin phase one of the Renovation & Restoration for Our New Library Home. Hear her speak about the need and what this project will bring to the community. Her book Citizen Architect, documents her 30 year career, inspiring readers to remember, “There’s Always A Way!”  With a unique expertise in restoration, Belinda believes in “the power of our small towns to inspire, that family roots can build an ethic that weaves through a profession, and that architecture can see beauty in our history and hope in our future.”

Help Us Raise Funds To Rewrite Our Story

It all began when a landmark church building was graciously donated by the First United Methodist Church on the one condition that it would be converted into a center of community life and a library.

The Friends of the Pickens Public Library (FPPL) humbly ask for your donations, advocacy, ideas, and your connections to make this important storybook dream come true for the schoolchildren and community of Pickens.

Why Is This Need So Important? 

The former church building is a landmark in Pickens and should be preserved. By converting it into a center of community life as a library, it would provide the children and citizens in this rural area with opportunities and a vital connection to the world, while still serving as a central landmark in the area. The former church building has a kitchen, and this area could be used for nutritional programs and other events. The upstairs rooms could be used for training, advice, and assistance to the greater community. By transforming it into a center of community life, it would provide the children and citizens in this rural area with opportunities and a vital connection to the world.

The Friends of the Pickens Public Library (Friends of Mississippi Library Inc.) is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to actively creating and supporting programs to raise the profile of the Pickens Public Library. The FPPL and the Pickens Public Library are both very active in the community and strive for enriching the area through education, reading and other learning activities.

Our Friends group is resuming our capital campaign, post-pandemic, with one of our native sons, southern actor and playwright John Maxwell as our Honorary Chair!