Jackson’s long abandoned Charles Tisdale Library on Northside Drive at Manhattan Road is no more.
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Demolition crews began work to remove the building Wednesday, Oct. 12, morning following an order issued earlier this year by the Jackson City Council. The library was permanently closed in April 2017 after frequent flooding in the basement caused mold to permeate the building.
Originally called the Northside Library, the branch was renamed for Tisdale, the late Jackson Advocate publisher, in early 2010. The renaming at the time was spearheaded by Ward 3 Jackson Councilman Kenneth Stokes and met considerable resistance from some members of the Friends of the Library, who instead lobbied the city council to rename the branch in honor of author Ellen Douglas.
At the time of its closure, the library was serving approximately 60,000 patrons annually. More than 30,000 books at the shuttered library were lost due to black mold infestation.
Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba has floated the idea of opening a new Tisdale Library branch at the former Batte Interiors furniture building less than a mile east on Northside Drive at McWillie Drive.
That plan has met resistance, however, from Ward 1 Councilman and Council President Ashby Foote who argues the city already owns more buildings than it can adequately maintain.
The library originally opened in May 1962, one of two branch libraries to open in Jackson that year. Blanche McKeown was chosen as the first head librarian, having served in a similar position at the Livingston Branch Library. The initial inventory included approximately 12,000 books and also featured a meeting room with up to 75 seats for public use.
