NMMC Book Blessings Library Brightens Hospital Stays

TUPELO, Mississippi—Time seems to pass more slowly in a hospital, so staff at North Mississippi Medical Center recently launched a Book Blessings Library to encourage patients and their families.

Occupational therapist Sarah Barton Harris came up with the idea and gained approval to pursue it. “As an occupational therapist, I know the importance of occupying your mind during difficult times and the direct influence it has on increasing your overall mood,” Harris said.

Since joining the NMMC team in 2021, Harris has encouraged her patients to engage in hobbies that are meaningful to them during their hospital stay. “I started to donate my personal books to patients and quickly ran out of books to donate, but I did not want to stop providing small blessings to patients,” she says. “I reached out to the local library, my coworkers and church members to donate books to this cause as well as purchasing more books.”

Book Blessings Library is being piloted on a few units at NMMC-Tupelo with the goal of expanding to other units when possible. NMMC’s Volunteer Services Department is responsible for sanitizing donated books and keeping shelves stocked.

Patients and family members are invited to take a book and “give your mind a rest and enjoy a story or two” while in the hospital and to take the book home with them.