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MISSISSIPPI LIBRARIES VOL. 75, NO. 2 • SUMMER 2012 PAGE 61vocalist, bandleader, recording artist, andcomposer; Brian Holland, a Grammy-nominatedragtime, jazz, and stride piano entertainer;Carl Sonny Leyland, a boogie-woogievirtuoso; Martin Spitznagel, a “facemelting”musical talent who excels inblending ragtime with current popularmelodies; and David Jasen, one of the mosthighly regarded authorities on ragtimemusic.As an outreach of the Festival, Spitznagelled a master class for MSU’s Department ofMusic and visited elementary school childrenat Starkville’s West Oktibbeha Elementary.The 6th annual Charles Templeton RagtimeJazz Festival was again sponsored bythe Mississippi State University Libraries;the Charles Templeton, Sr. Music Museum;the Starkville Area Arts Council; the RotaryClub of Starkville; the Greater StarkvilleDevelopment Partnership; and, in part, bygrants from the Mississippi Arts Counciland the National Endowment for the Arts.For more information on MSU Librariesand the Charles Templeton Ragtime JazzFestival, please visit http://library.msstate.edu/.Ragtime entertainer Martin Spitznagel entertainsat Starkville’s West Oktibbeha Elementary Schoolduring the week of Festival events.– Submitted by Lyle Tate, Special ProjectsCoordinator, Mississippi State UniversityLibrariesFIRST REGIONAL LIBRARY SYSTEMJOINS MSU-BASED MISSISSIPPILIBRARY PARTNERSHIPMississippi’s largest library consortium isadding new libraries and changing its name.Via a new merger, the system serves 53libraries in 14 Mississippi counties.The Mississippi Library Partnership(MLP), formerly known as the Golden TriangleRegional Library Consortium(GTRLC), welcomes the First RegionalLibrary (FRL) System to its ranks. The FRLSystem is a five-county public library cooperativewith thirteen branches located inNorthwest Mississippi. The Region wasformed among DeSoto, Tate, Panola andLafayette counties in 1950. Tunica Countyjoined the System in 1968. The regionalheadquarters is located inside the branch inHernando.Public libraries within the FRL Systeminclude facilities in Southaven, Hernando,Olive Branch, Horn Lake, Walls, Tunica,Coldwater, Senatobia, Crenshaw, Como,Sardis, Batesville, and Oxford.The FRL System joins a partnershipwith the former GTRLC that served 40libraries on the campuses of MississippiState University, Mississippi University forWomen, East Mississippi Community College,Starkville High School, and in thecities of Starkville, Maben, Sturgis, Meridian,Jackson, Columbus, Amory, Aberdeen,Ackerman, West Point, Hamilton, Mathiston,Nettleton, Eupora, Weir, Wren, Mayhew,Scooba, Artesia, Crawford, Caledonia,Kosciusko, Duck Hill, Carthage, Durant,Goodman, Kilmichael, Lexington, Pickens,Tchula, Walnut Grove, West, Winona, andLouisville.“We have simply outgrown the previousname for the Consortium,” said StephenCunetto, Administrator of Systems with MississippiState University Libraries. “The nameMississippi Library Partnership better representsthe fact that this network covers morethan just Mississippi’s Golden Triangle.”During a contract signing on March 5,2012, Dr. Mark Keenum, president of MississippiState University, welcomed the newlibraries to the MLP stating “We’re proudto welcome First Regional Library Systemto the Mississippi Library Partnership. Thisrelationship brings libraries in northwestMississippi into the most significant libraryconsortium in Mississippi and allows theUniversity to facilitate shared resources forlibrary patrons during tight budget timesand increased utilization of databases thatmight otherwise be unavailable to communitylibraries.”FRL System Director Catherine Nathanis pleased with the decision to join, remarkingthat “The staff and trustees of the FirstRegional Library could not be more pleasedabout joining the Mississippi Library Partnership!We look forward to many years ofresource sharing and collaboration with themembership – and hope that other librarieswill consider joining.”The Mississippi Library Partnership wasestablished in 1993 as a means of increasingthe sharing of resources and automationcosts as well as the sharing of technicalexpertise. The mission of the Partnership isto provide a central database that customerscan utilize to provide easy access toresources available in the Golden Triangleand Mid-Mississippi regions. Buildingupon the success of the venture betweencharter members Mississippi State Universityand Mississippi University for Women,the Partnership continues to impactlibraries and provide exceptional service toits members.“We are very pleased to have the FRLSystem join the MLP,” said Cunetto. “Withthe addition of the FRL System, the Partnership,the only one of its kind in theState, now includes over 50 libraries,including academic, public, and schoollibraries.”Since its establishment, Starkville HighSchool, Tombigbee Regional Library System,Oktibbeha – Starkville Public Library,the East Mississippi Community CollegeLibraries, and the Mid-Mississippi LibrarySystem have joined the Partnership. Trainingand ongoing development and supportfor the Partnership is handled by the MississippiState University Libraries.For more information on the MississippiLibrary Partnership, please visit http://library.msstate.edu/gtrlc.(standing, l to r) Jerry Gilbert, MSU Provost; EvelynHubbard, FRL System Board Member; FrancesColeman, Dean of MSU Libraries; Stephen Cunetto,Admin of Systems, MSU Libraries (seated, l tor) Mark Keenum, MSU President; CatherineNathan, Director, FRL System.– Submitted by Lyle Tate, Special ProjectsCoordinator, Mississippi State UniversityLibraries