Help Us Rewrite Our Story.

Pickens, Mississippi is in the second poorest county in the United States.

Our local elementary children have an unacceptable 43% reading rate.

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.

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

Why Is This Need So Important? 

It all began in 2014 with a landmark church building graciously donated by the First United Methodist Church on the one condition that it would be converted into a center of community life and library.

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. This project will provide the children and families of this systemically underserved rural area hope, opportunities and a vital vision of and connection to the world.

Join our capital campaign!  Native son, and internationally acclaimed southern actor and playwright, John Maxwell, is our Honorary Chair!

Support Our Fundraiser On Saturday, May 17, 2025

Interview With Restoration Architect, 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. With a unique expertise in historic 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.”

Native Son, writer W. Ralph Eubanks, on how a library’s Book Mobile changed his life.

W. Ralph Eubanks is an author, essayist, professor, journalist, and public speaker. Growing up in Holmes County, Eubanks understands first-hand the challenges that growing up in a disadvantaged communty like Pickens and how the power of libraries can transforms both individuals and community life.

For a full biography and bibliography, please visit his website.

What Does The Pickens Public Library mean to the community? Hear from the Librarian and a few patrons themselves!

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.