Some people walk into a library looking for a book. Others come looking for something harder to name: a quiet place to sit, a computer to apply for a job, or a few hours away from a home that doesn’t feel safe. For neighbors facing domestic abuse, homelessness, or not knowing where their next meal will come from, an open door and someone willing to help can matter as much as anything on the shelves.
In Baldwyn, Mississippi, that open door belongs to the Anne Spencer Cox Library. This month’s Nonprofit Spotlight recognizes the library and its librarian, Jahquantee Johnson, who is building a place where anyone in need can find safety, support, and a way forward. With new help by his side, he now has more room to grow that vision.
Free Resources at the Anne Spencer Cox Library in Baldwyn, Mississippi
Baldwyn is a small town that spans the line between Lee and Prentiss counties in northeast Mississippi. Its library, at 303 North Third Street, is one of 11 branches in the Northeast Regional Library System, which serves communities across Alcorn, Prentiss, Tippah, and Tishomingo counties.
Inside, the shelves are only the beginning. The library connects patrons with free tools that meet people where they are. A parent can find early learning activities for a preschooler on ABCmouse. A commuter can borrow audiobooks through hoopla or the Libby app. A student can dig into Mississippi’s Magnolia research databases. And for someone working to rebuild, the library offers driver’s license practice tests and resume-building tools, two practical steps toward steady work and independence.
Resources like these only matter if someone is there to keep the doors open and help people find them. In Baldwyn, that someone is Jahquantee.
How the Anne Spencer Cox Library Serves the Baldwyn Community
For Jahquantee, the library is much more than a place to borrow books. He sees it as a sanctuary, a place where people facing domestic abuse, homelessness, and food insecurity can walk in, feel welcome, and find help. His goal is to expand that reach and deepen the library’s impact across the community.
It is a big vision for what is largely a one-person operation. Aside from a part-time city employee who helps with building maintenance 12 hours a week, Jahquantee manages the library’s day-to-day operations on his own. Questions, checkouts, and the many routine tasks of running a public library all run through him.
What drives him is a deep commitment to service. A student of law and philosophy, Jahquantee brings a passion for Stoicism, research, and helping others into his work. That commitment shows up in a library culture built around welcoming anyone who needs a safe and supportive place to turn.
Still, there are only so many hours in a day. When one person handles everything, routine work can crowd out bigger goals like reaching new customers and building new programs. That is where an extra set of hands began to make a difference.
How Transition2Work® Provides Volunteer Support to the Anne Spencer Cox Library
Through the Transition2Work program, ReEmployAbility connects employees who are recovering from a workplace injury with nonprofit organizations. There, they volunteer in assignments that fit the physical restrictions set by their doctor while they heal and prepare to return to work.
For the Anne Spencer Cox Library, the partnership brought something a one-person library rarely has: dependable help every day. A Transition2Work volunteer now supports the library’s daily operations, giving Jahquantee a consistent partner in the work.
The support flows both ways. Just as the volunteer helps the library, the library helps her. It offers her a warm, welcoming environment where she can continue her recovery while preparing to return to her original employer. In a place built to be a refuge for others, she has found a supportive space of her own.
How Volunteer Support Helps the Anne Spencer Cox Library Serve More Residents
With daily tasks shared, Jahquantee has been able to look past the to-do list and focus on the bigger picture: broader goals and a long-term strategy for the library.
He now spends more of his time on the work closest to his vision. That includes community outreach, program development, and strengthening services for the people who rely on the library as a safe and welcoming place.
The community has noticed. Jahquantee has seen increased attendance, greater community engagement, and growing interest in the programs, activities, and resources offered across the library system. More people coming through the doors means more neighbors finding the tools, support, and safe space the library offers.
Having seen those results firsthand, Jahquantee has a clear message for other organizations.
Why Nonprofits Should Consider a Transition2Work Volunteer Partnership
When asked what he would tell other nonprofits thinking about hosting a volunteer through ReEmployAbility, his answer was short:
“Just do it.”
He describes the process as straightforward and highly beneficial, and says the ReEmployAbility team makes it easy to connect with valuable support. For a librarian who manages nearly everything on his own, that ease matters. And in his view, what the library gives in return is simple. The only effort, he says, is “good hospitality.”
It is fitting advice from a library whose mission is welcoming people. The same hospitality Jahquantee offers every patron is all the partnership has asked of the library.
How to Support the Anne Spencer Cox Library in Baldwyn, Mississippi
We are proud to spotlight the Anne Spencer Cox Library and Jahquantee Johnson for their dedication to service and their vision of a library that welcomes everyone, especially people going through hard times. With growing attendance, a librarian focused on the future, and dependable support in place, the library is ready to reach even more of its neighbors.
You can be part of that story. Stop by, attend a program, or share the library’s free resources with a neighbor who could use them. The library is open Tuesday through Friday, 9 AM to 5 PM CT.
To learn more about the Anne Spencer Cox Library and its mission, visit https://www.nereg.lib.ms.us/anne-spencer-cox-library-baldwyn/