Our Centennial Conservator of Local History

We have enjoyed presenting the Library's century of public service in this blog.  If you, too, have had fun reading the postings this year, we should thank Wanda Potts, the historian of Mooresville, Indiana who will be 91 years old next month.

Wanda Potts

Mooresville, Indiana Historian

MPL Indiana Room Librarian Emeritus

Long-time readers know that Wanda Potts was the MPL Indiana Room Librarian (and Assistant Director of the Library) from 1966-2002.  Our 100-year history presented in this blog, along with the 188-year history of the Town of Mooresville that we have featured throughout, comes directly from information carefully collated and filed by Wanda and her colleagues.  None of this would have been possible without their tireless dedication to the preservation of our local history.  Wanda is truly the Library's centennial conservator of local history, and nobody better deserves the title of town historian.

We have featured Wanda or her newspaper articles in many blog postings.  In the blog search line (upper left-hand corner of the blog page), type (in quotation marks) "Wanda Potts," and your search results should retrieve many posts about her or her writings.

We hope Wanda is able to attend our centennial celebration tomorrow (Saturday, May 12, 2012) at the Library.  There is cake!  I guess you can see why I'll be there.  Well, I'm actually scheduled to work, but cake is a nice perk.

Wanda Potts (May 12, 2012)

UPDATE:  Wanda visited with us at the Library's 100th anniversary celebration.  She was pleased with the Library's maintenance and development of the Indiana Room collections, as well as with digitization efforts to increase information accessibility via the Internet.

Our Century Slideshow

How does one compress a century of public library service into a single slideshow?  Click here to see, or click the image below.

We are pleased to have been given the privilege of providing 100 years of public service to our community.  We hope to continue for hundreds of years more.  New generations of library staff and patrons will come along, and we hope they, too, value the quality resources Mooresville Public Library has been fortunate to furnish to our visitors.

Join us for our centennial celebration on Saturday, May 12, 2012, if you're in the neighborhood. There's cake, and we have a complete day of fun and informative activities scheduled.  A party like this only happens once in a hundred years, so don't miss it.

Camera-Shy Library Directors

NOTE:  This blog post was last updated on February 18, 2021.

As we saw in a previous blog posting, a few MPL Directors/Librarians have been "camera-shy." We have a place for their portraits on the Library's Directors' Wall, but, sadly, there were no suitable photographs available when the gallery was compiled in 2006.

Norris May Greeson Talley (1895-1981)

MPL Librarian/Director

(1918-1922)

Sharon Beatrice

MPL Librarian/Director

(1984-1987)

Each of these librarians/directors made important contributions to the Library and its public services.  We wish we could share their portraits.  It would help readers to connect with them as individuals dedicated to MPL and its continued growth, development, and improvement.

Headstone of Ira Manley Talley (1894-1918) &

Norris May Greeson Talley (1895-1981)

at Mooresville (Indiana) Cemetery

Click Images to Enlarge

It's no substitute for a portrait, but we found Norris Greeson Talley's grave marker in Mooresville (Indiana) Cemetery.  (As MPL Indiana Room historian, that's one of my frequent patron requests--to find decedents' tombstones and obituaries.)  There is obituary information in our Legacy Links database, as well as from the Find-a-Grave website.

Digging deeper, we discovered a group photo that includes Norris (misspelled "Morris") Greeson in the 1911 Mooresville High School yearbook, but the names at the bottom don't correspond with the arrangement of the people in the picture.

 Mooresville High School Class of 1913

from 1911 MHS Yearbook

Fortunately, we have another photograph with handwritten names on the back.  Norris is standing in the back row, fourth from the left.

Mooresville High School Class of 1913

(Talley is misspelled in the MHS alumni summary)

Handwriting on Back of Photo
Identifying Persons Pictured
Along With MHS Alumni Records
for the Class of 1913

By comparing the 1911 yearbook photo with the other picture of the MHS class of 1913, we're confident that we have a match for Norris Greeson (Talley).

These group yearbook photos, however, did not scan at sufficiently high resolution to create a suitable "isolation image" of Mrs. Talley.  Thankfully, Christopher Marshall, librarian and team leader in the Indianapolis Special Collections Room at the Indianapolis Public Library, located a digitally-scanned photo including Mrs. Talley that should be ideal for enlarging.  (Mrs. Talley is in the very front, on the left, with the purse leaning against her left foot.)  The photo (click below to enlarge) is also available in the IPL online digital collection.

Indianapolis Public Library Staff (April 12, 1948)

(L to R:  Norris Talley & Marian McFadden are in the very front)

(Photograph by Kenny Strattman)

(Digital image courtesy of the Indianapolis Public Library's

Indianapolis Special Collections Room)

The front of IPL Central hasn't changed much.  Here is the MPL staff on an in-service visit to IPL.

MPL Staff in front of Indianapolis Public Library

(October 13, 2014 In-Service Training)

We also received a fine digital image of Mrs. Talley from Rachel Metheny of the Broadway United Methodist Church in Indianapolis.  The photo was scanned from a church membership directory.

Norris May (Greeson) Talley

(from the Broadway United Methodist Church Directory) (ca. 1970s)

Now all we have to do is enlarge an "isolation shot" from one of these digital images and place Mrs. Talley in her rightful place among our library directors' photo gallery.

We thought it fitting to include Mrs. Talley's obituary, as it affords further details from her career as a librarian.

Obituary of Norris May Greeson Talley

(from the Franklin [Indiana] Daily Journal, September, 1981)

(courtesy of the Johnson County Public Library)

The only image we have of Sharon Beatrice (MPL Director, 1984-1987) is from two newspaper articles, the first of which is on microfilm.

The [Mooresville, Indiana] Times, August 5, 1987, p. 5a

(Sharon Beatrice is on the far left)

Obviously, the original microfilm leaves something to be desired.  So we used our digital microfilm scanner/reader to brighten it.

Digitally-Enhanced Microfilm Image

Let's check our Indiana Room vertical files for an original newspaper clipping.  It's from another newspaper.

The [Martinsville, Indiana] Reporter, August 7, 1987

(Same Photo as Above)

That's a little better, but still not up to public display standards in our directors' photo gallery.

 

FEBRUARY 2021 UPDATE:  Thanks to our recent subscription to Newspapers.com, we're able to access many more digitized newspapers than we previously could.  Courtesy of the Indianapolis News, Monday, June 15, 1987, page 5, we have an article and accompanying photo about Sharon Beatrice's Arizona move.  It's a better photo, but it's still newsprint quality, so not as nice as a proper portrait.

 

Indianapolis News

Monday, June 15, 1987
 

We appreciate the many contributions that Mrs. Talley and Ms. Beatrice made during their respective tenures as MPL Director.  If, by some incredible coincidence, Ms. Beatrice is reading this blog posting (probability slightly less than hitting the moon by throwing a stone into the air), please send us your photo.  An 8" x 10" portrait would be fine.  Color, please and thanks.  Glossy is okay.  Digital photo is even better.  You know our mailing address and email (they're on our web site home page).

The Digital Revolution @ MPL (2010-2011)

(Last Updated July 12, 2022)

 

In the Fall of 2010 and throughout 2011, the Library revolutionized its electronic and digital resources for patrons' use.  MPL was one of the pioneering public libraries to join the eIndiana Digital Consortium, which provided downloadable electronic books (e-books), audiobooks, and videos through the Internet.  Patrons used their library cards, such as Evergreen Indiana, to download (for free!) books and other e-digital resources (using OverDrive digital media services) for their e-readers and audio or video players.

In March 2022, the eIndiana Digital Consortium merged with the Indiana Digital Library to provide patrons with free e-resource access.  (Learn more from this blog post.)

During the Summer of 2010, MPL introduced Book News, an online readers' advisory service, to patrons.  Clicking the Book News icon on the Library's website provided patrons with some of the latest fiction and nonfiction books just published.  There were different email book lists to which patrons could subscribe (again, at no cost) using their email addresses.

After a few years, the library discontinued Book News and replaced it with a comparable service called Wowbrary.

MPL Promo Trailer for Wowbrary

(Click Play Arrow in Image to Start Video)

The Library became Skype-enabled during 2010.  Patrons may use, free-of-charge, computers in the MPL Study Rooms to access Skype, which allows users to make free video calls to anyone around the world (provided both users have computers, Internet access, and the Skype software).

In December 2011, thanks to a Library Services & Technology Act (LSTA) grant from the Indiana State Library, MPL purchased a new microform digital scanner, which is available to patrons in the MPL Indiana Room.  The device digitally scans microfilm and microfiche, which may then be printed or saved to USB portable drives (i.e., "flash" drives or "memory sticks").  Patrons could also email scanned images directly from the computer to which the scanner is attached.

 ScanPro 2000 Digital Microform Scanner in Action

Besides digitization, in 2011 MPL upgraded its computer resources throughout the Library and streamlined its wireless Internet access (introducing wireless printing options), and new computer video projection equipment was installed in the Bonita Marley Community Room and the computer lab.  It was a high-tech year for the Library and its patrons.

Technological improvements continue.  In the coming weeks the Library will launch a new, enhanced, easier-to-navigate website, which will presumably use the same domain name as our current website.

A century ago, MPL staff and patrons could hardly have imagined all of the technological improvements that modern Library users take for granted.  It is yet another example of how MPL has adapted to better serve its patrons' informational and educational needs.

The Library's Global Footprint (2010)

(Last Updated:  March 26, 2025)

Librarian Suzanne Walker, Director of Youth Services (2007-2012), spearheaded Mooresville Public Library's social media initiative in 2010, when the library registered various online social media accounts.  Numerous staff wrote readers' advisory, historical, humorous, and youth services program blogs from 2010 through 2016.  Due to their time-sensitive content, such as now-past program dates or now-completed events, all of these blogs have either been removed or are no longer active (as of 2017), but several remain online as archives.

 

Library staff also used an online document repository called DocStoc (now defunct) (2010-2015), as well as Slideshare (2012-2020), a PDF slideshow app; Flickr (2008-2014), an online digital image repository; and the social networking website Tumblr (2011-2014).  Some of this digital content remains available online, although it is not updated.

As of May 6, 2023, the library was actively maintaining these social media sites below (with dates of origin in parentheses):

• MPL YouTube Channel (est. January 2010), the library's most popular social media site, with over two million total video views; 
• Mooresville, Indiana Treasure Trove Blog (est. April 2010) (which you're now reading);
• MooresPubLib on Twitter (est. April 2010);
• MPL on Facebook (est. August 2010);
• MPL on SoundCloud (est. August 2010) (featuring MPL Composer Daniel E. Buckley's original musical compositions);
• MPL on Pinterest (est. 2012); 
• MPL on Instagram (est. 2017); 
• MPL YAZ on Instagram (est. 2017); 
• YAZMPLdiscord on Discord (est. 2020);

The following blogs remain online but are not currently updated:

•  Cat's Eye View @ MPL Blog (est. December 2010) (by Cauli Le Chat, MPL feline roving reporter) (Cauli retired in 2015 but continued to occasionally post; she came out of retirement in early 2018 when her blog viewings reached half a million.  Cauli passed away in 2020.);
• Biblio-Techno Global Footprint Blog (est. May 2017), a technology blog for librarians;
• Suzanne's Picks for Teens (est. May 2006);
• Suzanne’s Picture Book Picks (est. June 2007);
• Teen Review Blog (est. July 2009);
• Explore to Learn:  Early Literacy Fun (est. September 2011);
• Kate's Manga & Anime Reviews (est. April 2010);
• Lil' Rae of Sunshine (est. May 2009); and
• The Savvy Reader (est. March 2012).

MPL has established a global footprint through its use of social media.  Patrons worldwide followed the library's blogs, watched the library's videos, listened to the library composer's music, looked at the library's program photographs, and downloaded or viewed the library's digitized images, handouts, or slideshows.  They continue to follow MPL on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, and Discord.  This social media presence supplements the library's website, which has existed (in three or four different versions) for a decade and a half.

 

Besides social media, the library's marketing team uses more traditional technologies to promote library programs, services, and resources, such as an outdoor LED sign, in-house TV monitors (showing an assortment of library videos), and, of course, print materials (signs, pamphlets, brochures, handouts, bookmarks, etc.).

The library's social networking sites, such as Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Discord, and Instagram, have, along with the library's blogs, reached over a million readers.  In March, 2017, the library's YouTube video viewership surpassed one million, at the time second in the country among public libraries (first was the New York Public Library's YouTube channel; third was Johnson County [Indiana] Public Library's YouTube channel.  By 2025, these libraries had been surpassed by Columbus [Ohio] Metropolitan Library's YouTube channel, which had garnered over seven million views.).  In 2021, MPL YouTube channel passed two million views.  As of the end of March, 2025, viewership had reached over 2.8 million.  Not bad for a small-town, mid-size public library serving a community of about 15,000.

We invite you to peruse MPL's online social media sites.  We hope you find something interesting and helpful.  There's much information available.  Simply by reading this, you are one of our patrons, to whom we pledge our service.