Meet MLC Monday: Cindy Nugent

Meet Cindy Nugent, Outreach Coordinator for the Mississippi Library Commission's Talking Book Services. Her outreach activities for the agency include things like setting up and manning displays at conferences and speaking to various groups and organizations such as schools and nursing homes. Ms. Nugent also assists with reader's advisory and planning special events, like Pratt-Smoot Day and volunteer recognition. She's been working at MLC for 18 years.

"I love my job. I feel like what I do is really important. It's not just a job--I change lives."

Ms. Nugent says, "I'm dyslexic; I understand the struggle of trying to read something and not be able to. Working with children who struggle with reading is so important. I love watching them become better readers with audiobooks. I love watching them increase their comprehension of what they've read, and I definitely love watching them develop a love for books. A lot of kids come back to me and say, 'Oh, Ms. Cindy! Look at all the great books that I missed because I couldn't read! Now I'm reading them ALL!'"

She feels blessed by her adult patrons, too. She says that many of them feel rewarded by having an activity they can do by themselves without any help, especially those in nursing homes, etc... "The books," she says, "become their lives. The narrators are the actors and their minds are the screen. I can see how much joy I bring to their lives when the excitement they have about the books they're reading bubbles over. They love telling me about their current reads."

Cindy enjoys cooking, baking, genealogy research--hers and other family members--and traveling. She's currently reading The Tilted World by Tom Franklin and Beth Ann Fennelly. (It's MLC's staff book club selection this month.)