Hi, everyone, I am Miranda Loper and I’m the Talking Book Services (TBS) Director at the Mississippi Library Commission. I am a native Mississippian from just south of Meridian, and I grew with a love of reading from an early age. My father often took me to our small-town library when it was open, and when it wasn’t, we visited the Meridian Public Library to browse and read most Saturdays. With my passion for literature and poetry, I knew that I wanted to combine those interests with my desire to make an impact in my home state and community.

I graduated from the University of Southern Mississippi in 2019 with a B.A. in English with an emphasis in creative writing and a minor in Library and Information Science. As a student worker, I assisted with the University Archives, the Mississippiana Special Collection, and the de Grummond Children’s Literature Collection, performing and learning a variety of tasks within an archival setting. This experience fostered my interest in working with unique materials and sharing those materials with the public, so I decided to continue my education at USM and earn my MLIS.
While finishing up graduate school, I began a position as a branch manager in a rural public library. There I learned about meeting my community’s needs while “wearing many hats,” like children’s programming, collection management, reference and circulation services, and much more. I graduated with a Master of Library and Information Science and a Graduate Certificate in Youth Services and Literature from USM in the summer of 2021. After moving with my family to the central part of the state, I managed a larger metro-area public library where I enjoyed connecting with the community in which I live through programming, collection development, community engagement, and all other aspects of public librarianship.

Although I still visit my public library often as a patron, I found my calling to specialize in a distinct area of librarianship and to work with unique materials once again. As the TBS Director, I manage the TBS staff and administer the Talking Books program in Mississippi, a network library of the National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled (NLS) of the Library of Congress. TBS provides NLS access to qualifying Mississippi residents and allows patrons to receive digital audio, braille, and/or large print materials and accessible equipment directly at their homes via USPS mail. Patrons also have the option of downloading audio or braille formatted books and magazines directly to their personal device or computer using BARD (Braille and Audio Reading Download).
Individuals eligible for this free program include adults and children with visual impairments (blindness or an inability to read standard print), physical limitations (unable to hold a book or turn a page), and those with a reading disability from an organic dysfunction (like dyslexia or ADHD). The opportunity to provide a service that makes reading accessible for so many people is an incredible part of my career and my life. Every day I seek to share my love of literature while working diligently toward the motto of NLS, “That all may read.”