JACKSON, Miss. (WJTV) – After 38 years of service to the Jackson community, the Eudora Welty Library is packing up and moving out.

In December 2023, the Jackson City Council voted to transfer the Eudora Welty Library to the Mississippi Department of Archives and History (MDAH). The library is set to become a green space.

The Jackson Hinds Library System’s Administrative Board of Trustees approved use of storage at the Jackson Medical Mall.

Officials said pre-moving has been underway for several weeks ahead of the grand move date on Wednesday, February 21, 2024.

The library’s collection of books, art, furniture, equipment, and fixtures are being preserved and stored for use in a future downtown library. Officials said planning continues for a temporary downtown library location that will provide books, computers, and services to the public.

According to library officials, the move comes on the brink of the launch of a new five-year strategic planning process in March. The library board has retained the nationally notable firm of Library Strategies to conduct the research, community engagement, and data analysis toward designing the future of the Jackson Hinds Library System.