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I'D LIKE TO CALL THE APRIL 20TH, 2023 EAST BATON ROUGE PARISH LIBRARY BOARD OF CONTROL MEETING TO ORDER, UH, MS. WATTS, PLEASE LEAD US IN THE PLEDGE.
[EBR Library Board of Control on April 20, 2023.]
I PLEDGE THE LEADERS TO THE FLAG OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA TO THE REPUBLICATION UNDER GOD VISIBLE LIBERTY, LIBERTY, AND JUSTICE FOR ALL.PRESENT MR. DONALD LUTHER? HERE.
UH, APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING.
ANY OPPOSED? THE MINUTES ARE ADOPTED.
UH, THERE ARE NO SPECIAL ORDERS REPORTS BY THE DIRECTOR.
MS. PENNETT WILL GIVE THE FINANCIAL REPORT FOR 2023.
OPERATING EXPENDITURES THROUGH MARCH 31ST ARE $10,698,716 AND 79 CENTS ARE 20.97% OF THE OPERATING BUDGET THROUGH MARCH.
WE SHOULD HAVE SPENT NO MORE THAN 25% OF THE BUDGET CASH COLLECTIONS FROM PROPERTY TAXES FOR 2023.
REMAIN AHEAD OF THOSE COLLECTED IN 2022 AS WE ARE APPROXIMATELY 2.1 7000004.45% AHEAD OF THE SAME DATE LAST YEAR.
DOES ANYONE HAVE ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS? THANK YOU.
WE'LL GIVE THE, AROUND THE PARISH REPORT.
ENJOY THE BEAUTIFUL EXTRA LONG GOOSENECK MIC WHILE I FIND THE REPORT.
OKAY, SO BEFORE WE GET TO PRETTY PICTURES, I WANT TO, UM, TELL YOU THAT, UH, KRISTEN, PATRICIA, AND MYSELF JOINED BAKER BRANCH MANAGER ASHLEY BRUCE SAR A FEW WEEKS AGO FOR A PRESS LED BY THE GOVERNOR AND, UH, MAYOR SH SHARON WESTON BROOM WAS THERE.
UH, A VARIETY OF OTHER NOTABLE OFFICIALS WERE THERE.
AND THEY BASICALLY ANNOUNCED THE BROADBAND, UH, BIG MONEY GRANT, UH, THAT'S GOING TO DELIVER CAPACITY FOR, I WANNA SAY, AND I ALWAYS GET IT WRONG, IS IT 500,000 HOUSEHOLDS THROUGHOUT LOUISIANA, UH, TO CONNECT THEM WITH BROADBAND.
SO WE WERE PROUD TO BE PART OF THAT.
THEY LATER, UH, BROUGHT PEOPLE INSIDE TO DO SOME CLASSES WITH THE COUNCIL IN AGING, UH, HELPING OUR SENIORS WITH DIGITAL LITERACY.
SO IT WAS REALLY NICE TO BE PART OF THAT EVENT, UH, AS WE ROLL OUT THIS NEW PHASE OF, UH, OF AN ATTEMPT TO BRIDGE THAT DIGITAL DIVIDE.
AND KRISTEN AND I ALSO MET WITH BLUE BONNET BRANCH MANAGER, KELLY YOUNG, FOR A VISIONING EXERCISE OUT AT THE SWAMP WHERE BLUE BONNET IS ASSESSING THEIR FACILITIES.
AND YEARS AGO, YOU WILL REMEMBER THAT WHEN WE FIRST BUILT THE BLUE BONNET BRANCH LIBRARY, IT WAS IN THE NINETIES.
UH, THE SWAMP WAS, IT WAS AN EXCITING NEW TIME FOR US, AND WE HAD INTERESTING IDEAS ON HOW WE MIGHT WORK TOGETHER.
AND SO WE HAVE BEEN REVISITING SOME OF THOSE IDEAS AND, UH, LET'S SEE WHAT HAPPENS WITH THAT.
UM, OTHER THING, UH, THAT I WANTED TO TELL YOU THIS NOT IN THE SLIDES WE'LL BE HEARING, UH, FROM CS S PRESIDENT TIM BARFIELD ON THE NEXT STRICTLY BUSINESS VIRTUAL TALK, AND WE'RE ALL INTERESTED IN THESE BIG CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS.
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WE'RE ALL INTERESTED IN ALL THE CHANGE, UH, THE TRUE INFRASTRUCTURE CHANGES HAPPENING ALL OVER THE PARISH.SO THIS WOULD BE AN INTERESTING THING TO LISTEN TO.
HE'S, UH, HIS, THE FOCUS OF HIS TALK IS ENSURING THAT HIS COMPANY THRIVES IN AN ERA OF CONTINUAL DISRUPTION.
UM, WE'VE ALSO BEEN APPEARING AT A NUMBER OF JOB FAIRS, CAREER FAIRS.
UH, SOME WERE GIGANTIC, SOME ARE INTIMATE.
SO THE, UH, CAREER STAFF, THE OUTREACH STAFF, AND THE SMALL BUSINESS STAFF HAVE BEEN NOT AT THEIR DESKS.
AND ONE LAST THING I WANTED TO BRING YOUR ATTENTION BEFORE WE START LOOKING AT PRETTY PICTURES.
UM, PERHAPS YOU SAW COUNTRY ROADS ONLINE AND GET A LITTLE OF, UH, UH, EESS FROM THEM ON OCCASION.
UH, THE ONE EARLIER THIS WEEK WAS EPISODE ONE.
HAVE YOU? AND THAT WAS AT THE HEADING.
AND THEN THERE WAS THIS BIG PICTURE AND I SAID, HMM, THAT'S OUR WONDERFUL COUNTRY RHODES PUBLISHER, JAMES FOX SMITH'S FIRST PODCAST EMANATING FROM THE RIVER CENTER, BRANCH LIBRARY'S, UH, RECORDING STUDIO.
SO, UH, HE'S JOINING THE LIST OF OTHER WONDERFUL AGENCIES WHO ARE, UH, BROADCASTING, UH, MAYBE NOT LIVE, MAYBE TAPE FOR LATER DISTRIBUTION, BUT, BUT USING THE SERVICES AT THE RIVER CENTER BRANCH LIBRARY'S MAKER SPACE.
THEY WERE TRAINED, YOU KNOW, WE WERE ALL EXCITED TO GET 'EM ONLINE.
AND SO NOW THEY HAVE LAUNCHED ALL RIGHT, NOW PRETTY PICTURES.
SO I'VE BEEN TALKING TO YOU ALL SPRING ABOUT THE SOUNDS OF SCIENCE.
WELL, WE, WE HAVE WRAPPED IT UP, HOPEFULLY NOT OUR EXPLORATION OF SCIENCE, BUT AT LEAST THIS SERIES THAT WE DID IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE LOUISIANA SPACE, UH, LAW SPACE, UH, THE, THE LSU DEPARTMENT OF, UH, PHYSICS AND ASTRONOMY, THE LSU DEPARTMENT OF MUSIC AND DRAMATIC ARTS, THE LSU, UM, MASS COM, UH, WHICH HAS A FANCY NAME, MANSHIP SCHOOL OF COMMUNICATIONS.
UH, AND THERE WERE OTHER PEOPLE INVOLVED IN IT AS WELL.
ON THIS PICTURE, WHAT I'D LIKE TO SHOW YOU FIRST, REMEMBER LAST MONTH, I INSISTED THAT YOU ALL GO LOOK AT THE BEAUTIFUL RENDERINGS OF THE HUBBLE VERSUS JAMES WEBB.
KIND OF DING IT OUT ON THE FIRST FLOOR.
UM, SO HERE'S THE PILLARS OF CREATION, AS SEEN BY HUBBLE, AND THEN AS VISUALIZED BY THE JAMES WEBB.
SO WE HAD THOSE, UH, THEN THE LSU MASS COM STUDENTS CREATED WHITE, UH, WHITEBOARDS OR POSTER BOARDS.
UH, THIS IS SOMETHING THAT CAME ABOUT IN THE LAST 20, 30 YEARS IN COLLEGES WHERE IT'S AN EXERCISE IN DISCERNMENT ANALYSIS AND THEN COMMUNICATION.
SO THEIR ASSIGNMENT WAS FOR NON-SCIENCE STUDENTS TO RESEARCH THINGS ABOUT THE JAMES WEBB TELESCOPE OR OTHER, OTHER SUBJECTS THAT WERE PART OF OUR SOUNDS OF SCIENCE SERIES.
AND THEN SPIT IT BACK OUT IN A, IN A WAY THAT I, AS A LAYMAN COULD UNDERSTAND.
AND THEY WERE ALSO, UH, INVITED TO COME HERE AND PRESENT THEIRS, UH, THEIR, UH, MAJOR ADVISOR, FREE, FREE TO WRITE THERE.
AND PEOPLE DID STOP AND LOOK, AND I'M JUST SO PROUD TO KNOW THEM.
THERE WITH CUDDLES IS OUR COMPOSER, DAVID WALTERS.
UH, HE WAS HERE FOR EVERY EVENT.
AND FOR THE FINALE DAY, WE HAD THAT FULL DAY OF, UH, SCIENCE EXTRAVAGANZA OUTSIDE AND INSIDE.
WE MADE THINGS, WE BLEW UP THINGS.
WE HAD A GOOD TIME, WAS HAD BY ALL CUDDLES, WAS EVERYWHERE.
AND THEN AT NIGHT, Y'ALL LOOK OVER HERE, YOU SEE THOSE WINDOW SHADES.
THEY LOWERED THEM TO THE GROUND.
THERE THEY ARE LOWERED TO THE GROUND.
THE OTHER SIX MUSICIANS WERE IN PLACE.
AND THEN THEY TURNED THE LIGHTS OFF
WHO KNEW? BUT I'M NOT GONNA FORGET THAT.
THERE WAS A FABULOUS PANEL WITH THE PROFESSORS, UH, TALKING ABOUT INTERDISCIPLINARY STUDY, THE HOLISTIC NATURE OF WHAT WE'VE TRIED TO DO WITH THIS SERIES, HOW SCIENCE
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INTERSECTS, UH, AND INTERPLAYS WITH ART MIND BLOWN.SO THEY'RE LIKE, WHAT ARE WE GONNA DO NEXT? AND I'M LIKE, OKAY, LET'S THINK ABOUT THIS.
SO YOU MAY HEAR MORE, HEAR MORE FROM THEM LATER.
UH, DAVID'S WORK THAT HE PRODUCES TONIGHT HAS TO DO WITH CLIMATE.
AND I SAID, WELL, YOU KNOW, DAVID, YOU NEED TO DO YOUR NEXT ONE OVER AT THE WATER INSTITUTE.
WOULDN'T THAT BE COOL? MAYBE, MAYBE I'LL BE HIS PRODUCER.
SO NOW YOU'VE NOT FORGOTTEN ONE BOOK, ONE COMMUNITY.
WE'VE BEEN READING ABOUT THE BLUES.
WE'VE BEEN LISTENING TO THE BLUES.
WE'VE BEEN TALKING ABOUT THE BLUES.
PEOPLE ARE REALLY ENJOYING THIS OPPORTUNITY TO THINK OF THE BLUES IN A DIFFERENT WAY.
AND THEY TRULY ENJOYED COMING TO THE KICKOFF.
UH, IT SEEMS LIKE A LIFETIME AGO, BUT IT WAS JUST A COUPLE WEEKS AGO.
UH, THE MICHAEL FOSTER PROJECT, UH, PHENOMENAL AS ALWAYS.
THERE YOU SEE JOHN GRAY WITH OUR AUTHOR CHRIS THOMAS KING.
PEOPLE WERE WRITING WHAT THEY LOVED ABOUT THE BLUES.
OUR STAFF WAS OUT HERE ENGAGING PEOPLE IN THE BLUES.
BLUES WAS CHECKING OUT, TOES WERE TAPPING.
AND THEN WE'VE ALSO FEATURED, UH, PERFORMANCE BY JONATHAN BOOGIE LONG.
WE'VE HAD JOHNNY PALOALTO AND THE ORIGINAL KING BEE, THE DOCUMENTARY THAT, UM, HE HELPED PRODUCE, WHICH YOU NOT AVAILABLE IN STORES, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN.
UH, LLOYD TEDDY JOHNSON OF TEDDY'S DUKE JOINT, JOHN WERT, AND HUEY PIANO SMITH AND THE ROCKING PNEUMONIA BLUES.
I'VE LEARNED SO MUCH IN EACH ONE OF THESE EVENTS.
LAST NIGHT WE HAD, UM, A LITTLE BIT MORE SCHOLARLY TOP TALK, AND NEXT WEEK, CHRIS THOMAS KING WILL BE HERE, UH, TO, TO WRAP IT ALL UP.
AND HE WILL TALK ABOUT THE WRITING OF THE BOOK BOOK.
AND HE MAY BRING A MUSICAL INSTRUMENT WITH HIM.
AND I CAN PRETTY MUCH GUARANTEE THAT YOU MAY HEAR A LITTLE SOMETHING FROM HIM.
UM, HE'S ALSO BEEN ON SOME RADIO SHOWS AND SOME TELEVISION, UH, UH, A LOT OF PEOPLE HAVE PAID ATTENTION TO HIM.
SO IT'S, AGAIN, IT'S GIVEN THE WHOLE COMMUNITY A FRESH LOOK AT A TOPIC THAT, UM, AND THAT'S ONE OF THE REASONS WE DO IT.
SO I'M VERY PLEASED ABOUT THAT.
THE FARMER'S MARKET HAS RETURNED TUESDAY AFTERNOONS THREE TO SIX.
SO WHETHER YOU'RE JUST GETTING OFF WORK AND SCOOTING IN OR COMING BEFORE YOUR EVENING PLANS, UM, I MYSELF HAVE EATEN QUITE HEARTEDLY, UH, FROM A NUMBER OF THESE VENDORS.
AND THEY'VE ALSO BRINGING, THEY'VE ALSO BEEN BRINGING, UM, THEY HAD THE BALLOON MAN COME, UH, THEY'VE HAD MUSIC.
UH, THEY'VE TRIED TO MAKE IT A VERY COMFORTABLE, FAMILY FRIENDLY EVENT.
SO TUESDAYS FROM THREE TO SIX, AS LONG AS THE WEATHER LASTS.
NOW, Y'ALL, I I ENCOURAGE YOU TO PUT YOUR THINKING CAPS ON AS WE DID OUR SECOND EDIBLE BOOKS FEST.
THE FIRST ONE WE DID WITH LIKE 10 DAYS NOTICE THIS YEAR.
I'VE BEEN THINKING ABOUT IT FOR MONTHS.
AND WE DOUBLED THE NUMBER OF ENTRIES THAT THE ENTRANCE RANGED FROM.
I SWEAR IT WAS FOUR YEARS OLD CHILD TO SOMEONE WHO WILL NOT SEE 80 AGAIN.
AND THE GRAND PRIZE WINNER IS THIS BIGGEST PICTURE, THE WONDERFUL WIZARD OF OZ.
AND THE, THE DAD SAID, I CAN'T GET IT OUT OF MY HEAD.
IT WAS, THEY MADE THE ROAD OUT OF YELLOW JELLO.
UM, THE BUN, THE IS THE WONDERFUL WIZARD.
SO THE WIZARD'S MADE OUT OF A BUN.
THAT'S THE GREEN EMERALD CITY.
UM, THERE'S GREEN, WONDERFUL THINGS MADE OUT OF BROCCOLI AND THE POPPY FIELD RIGHT HERE.
AND THEY HAD SOME LITTLE CHARACTERS OF DOROTHY, THE GARROW, THE TIN WOODMAN, AND, UM, MAYBE TOTO.
UH, THE PRETTIEST ONE, I MUST TELL YOU, WAS THE SIX OF DOS.
AND THEY CRAFTED E THERE'S THE CROW.
AND THEY CRAFTED EACH LETTER OUT OF BROWNIE DOUGH.
THEY SAID THEY WERE REGRETTING IT BY THE TIME THEY GOT TO THE THIRD LETTER.
BUT IT WAS SO BEAUTIFUL, AND WE DID WANT TO EAT IT.
DON KTE AND Y'ALL, HE'S RIDING IN, NOT ON A HORSE, BUT ON HORSE RADISH.
UM, HE WAS MADE OUT OF AN AVOCADO.
AND, UH, LITTLE KEISHA'S WERE HIS WINDMILL.
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UH, THIS WAS TRULY BEAUTIFUL.IT, YOU CAN'T QUITE SEE THE TINY LITTLE EYES, BUT THIS IS THE BLUEST PIE INSTEAD OF THE BLUEST EYE.
IT, IT WAS ACTUALLY A DELICIOUS PIE.
UM, YOU DON'T NORMALLY THINK OF BLUE FOOD AS BEING DELICIOUS, BUT IT WAS REALLY GREAT.
AND THE GROSSEST, ONE OF ALL, WHICH WAS THE CROWD FAVORITE, Y'ALL, WAS IN COLD BLOOD.
TRUMAN CAPOTE'S CLASSIC REALIZED IN FROZEN, I WANNA SAY GASPA.
SHE HAD A, UM, A A A SKULL, AN ICE SKULL THAT SLOWLY MELTED.
PEOPLE ATE THESE CHUNKS OF FROZEN SOUP.
AND SHE USED THIS LOFT TO SHAVE THE ICE.
SO IT LOOKED LIKE HE WAS A CANNIBAL.
IT WAS REALLY, TRULY TERRIBLE.
UH, I CAN'T WAIT TO SEE WHAT SHE BRINGS NEXT YEAR, BECAUSE THIS IS, WE'RE GONNA HAVE A CULT FOLLOWING FROM THIS, Y'ALL.
UM, AND SOMETIMES PEOPLE WORK TOGETHER, AND SOMETIMES THEY WERE PROUD SOLOISTS.
BUT, UM, IT WAS JUST WONDERFUL VIRTUAL AUTHOR TALKS COMING ON STRONG.
WE ARE GOING TO BE HEARING FROM, UH, WILLIAM KENT KRUEGER NEXT.
AND THESE ARE PICKING UP STEAM PEOPLE REALLY ENJOY.
UH, THE MODERATOR IS EXCELLENT AND THE VARIETY.
THESE, THESE BOOKS ARE ALL OVER THE PLACE.
SO I, I REALLY LIKE BEING PART OF THIS CONSORTIUM COMING UP.
OKAY, SATURDAY THE 22ND, THERE'S NOTHING, WE'RE NOT DOING
THE OUTREACH FOLKS ARE SO BUSY.
UM, PRIDE CHENEY WILL HOST THE SPORTSMAN'S LIFE AS THEIR 13TH COMMUNITY HISTORY FESTIVAL.
AT THE SAME TIME, AUTHORS ROWE IS TAKING PLACE AT JONES CREEK.
THEY HAD A PAUSE FOR C O V I D AND NOW THEY'RE COMING BACK AT THE SAME TIME.
THE BLUES FEST IS DOWNTOWN AT THE SAME TIME.
UM, THERE'S A LOT OF, AT THE SAME TIMES ON SATURDAY THE 22ND.
SO, UM, YOU CAN'T SAY THERE'S NOTHING TO DO.
UH, WE'LL ALSO THE VERY NEXT DAY INVITE YOU TO START NATIONAL LIBRARY WEEK.
WE'LL HAVE A LITTLE OPEN HOUSE HERE AT THE LIBRARY.
WE'VE MADE SOME, UH, SOME YARD SIGNS THAT PEOPLE ARE PICKING UP AT ALL BRANCHES TO PLANT IN THEIR YARD.
WE'RE ASKING PEOPLE TO TELL US HOW THEY LOVE THE LIBRARY OR WHY THEY LOVE THE LIBRARY.
AND WE'LL HAVE A LITTLE OPEN HOUSE HERE SPONSORED BY OUR FRIENDS GROUP, PATRONS OF THE PUBLIC LIBRARY ON SUNDAY AFTERNOON AT THREE.
AND WE'LL REPEAT THAT SAME THING ON WEDNESDAY AT THREE AND SEVEN.
WHAT WE'RE GONNA DO IN THAT OPEN HOUSE IS INTRODUCE KRISTEN, INTRODUCE PATRICIA, INTRODUCE OURSELVES, UM, UH, SHOW THEM SOME EXCITING THINGS GOING ON WITH THE SOUTH AND THE SCOTLANDVILLE BRANCHES.
UH, TALK ABOUT THE STRATEGIC PLAN.
UM, DO A LITTLE LISTENING AND JUST KIND OF, UH, BASICALLY BRING WHOEVER CARES UP TO SPEED ON WHERE THE LIBRARY IS RIGHT NOW.
UM, SO THAT, AH, ONE LAST THING TO TELL YOU.
I BROUGHT THE, THE BANNER JUST CAME IN FOR THE SUMMER READING PROGRAM BECAUSE QUITE FRANKLY, THE MINUTE ONE BOOK ONE COMMUNITY IS OVER, WE ARE HEADED INTO THE SUMMER MENTALLY AND PHYSICALLY.
SO THE SUPPLIES ARE COMING IN, THE LOGS ARE COMING IN, THE T-SHIRTS ARE COMING IN, THE INCENTIVES, REMEMBER, THEY'RE NOT PRIZES.
THEIR INCENTIVES ARE COMING IN.
AND WE ALSO JUST CEMENTED OUR, UH, OUR SCHEDULE WITH EBR R SCHOOLS.
UH, THE EBR R SCHOOL'S CHILD NUTRITION PROGRAM WILL COME BACK THIS SUMMER TO NINE LOCATIONS WITH SUMMER FEEDING.
THEY WON'T BE ABLE TO DO SUMMER FEEDING EVERY DAY.
THEY'LL BE ABLE TO DO IT FOUR DAYS AT THE MAIN LIBRARY, CARVER BRANCH AND JONES CREEK.
AND THESE BRANCHES WERE PICKED BECAUSE OF THE, THE, THE CENSUS OF CHILDREN WHO SEEM TO COME, UH, REGULARLY.
AND THEN THEY'LL BE SEVERAL DAYS AT MONT, AND THEN THEY'LL, UH, GO TO BLUE BONNET ONCE, THEY'LL GO TO EDEN PARK ONCE FAIRWOOD, ONCE RIVER CENTER, ONCE IN SCOTLANDVILLE, ONCE, UM, OTHER, OTHER BRANCHES ARE NOT IN THE PROGRAM BECAUSE THEY'RE NOT PART OF EBR R SCHOOLS.
AND THEN GREENWELL SPRINGS GRACIOUSLY GAVE UP ITS VISIT SO THAT DELMONT COULD HAVE IT BECAUSE THEY WEREN'T SEEING THE TRAFFIC.
AND WE KNOW DELMONT CAN, CAN CARRY THE TRAFFIC.
SO THAT'S GOING TO START MAY 24TH.
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TO BE IN THIS PROGRAM WITH THE SCHOOL SYSTEM.ANY OTHER QUESTIONS? ALL RIGHT.
I'M GONNA GET THANK YOU, MARY.
SO TODAY IN THE WORLD OF MAINTENANCE AND OTHER CAPITAL, UH, IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS, WE HAVE COMPLETED ALL DOOR CONTROL, PREVENTATIVE MAINTENANCE, UM, AT BAKER BLUE BONNET, CARVER CENTRAL, BELMONT GARDENS, EDEN PARK, FAIRWOOD, GREENO SPRINGS, JONES CREEK, MAIN PRIDE RIVER CENTER IN ZACHARY.
UH, MOST OF THE DOORS WERE IN GOOD CONDITION.
THEY DID FIND A PART THAT NEEDED TO BE REPLACED AT, UM, JONES CREEK.
AND THAT WAS, UM, SO AGAIN, EV EV EVERYTHING ELSE WAS IN PRETTY GOOD CONDITION.
DOUBLE, UH, THE RIPPED CEILING TILE IN CHILDREN'S WAS REMOVED ON APRIL 8TH.
AND THE REPLACEMENT TILE IS SCHEDULED TO BE INSTALLED, UM, THIS COMING SUNDAY MORNING BEFORE WE OPEN.
SO, UM, AND AS FAR AS MAINE GOES, WE ARE CONTINUING TO WORK ON THE REPLACEMENT PLANTS AND THAT PLAN FOR THE TERRACE.
UH, IT'S BEEN A LOT OF BACK AND FORTH TRYING TO FIND A CRANE COMPANY THAT WOULD PROVIDE THE, UH, SIZE CRANE THAT WE NEED, AS WELL AS THE PROTECTION THAT IS NEEDED FOR SUCH A LARGE CRANE TO BE DRIVEN BACK HERE BEHIND THE BUILDING WITHOUT TEARING UP ANY OF THE PROPERTY.
SO, UM, I'M STILL WAITING ON ONE PIECE OF INFORMATION AND THEN HOPEFULLY WE WILL GET THAT ON THE SCHEDULE BEFORE THE HEIGHT OF THE SUMMER.
AND, UH, I'VE BEEN TOLD THAT THE WORK SHOULD ONLY TAKE TWO DAYS TO BE COMPLETED AND WE WILL HAVE TO SHUT DOWN THE TERRACE WHEN THAT IS ACTUALLY, UM, SCHEDULED.
UH, IN THE FALL, WE WERE APPROACHED BY FORUM 2 25 TO DO A, UM, PARTNERSHIP ON BRINGING A COMMUNITY FRIDGE TO THE DELMONT GARDENS BRANCH LOCATION.
UM, THEY WOULD BE THE ONES TAKING CARE OF, UM, SERVICING THE REFRIGERATOR, PURCHASING THE REFRIGERATOR, PURCHASING THE SHED THAT GOES AROUND IT, MAKING SURE IT'S STOCKED FOR THE NEIGHBORHOOD AND CLEANING IT.
WHAT WE WOULD BE PROVIDING IS THE SPACE AND, UM, PAYING FOR THE UTILITY.
SO WE HAVE, UH, A SPOT PICKED OUT NOW AT THE BACK OF THE BRANCH THAT CAN ACTUALLY FIT WITHIN THE, UM, YOU KNOW, THE, THE GUIDELINES OF, OF WHAT THEY HAVE, UH, FOR THE SIZE FRIDGE THAT THEY NEED AND FOR THE, THE SHED THAT WILL GO AROUND IT.
AND NOW WE ALSO HAVE A QUOTE FOR, UM, DOING THE ELECTRICAL WORK THAT WILL, UH, NEED TO BE DONE IN ORDER FOR US TO POWER THE FRIDGE.
SO I'M, UH, TRYING TO SCHEDULE A MEETING WITH THEIR VICE PRESIDENT OF SERVICE AND THEIR SERVICE CHAIR SO THAT WE CAN COORDINATE.
CAUSE WE DON'T WANNA PUT IN A CONCRETE SLAB AND AN OUTDOOR, UM, OUTLET AND JUST HAVE IT SITTING THERE FOR WEEKS ON END BEFORE THEY'RE READY TO ACTUALLY BUILD THE STRUCTURE AND PUT THE FRIDGE IN.
SO THAT'S GONNA BE, UM, HAPPENING NEXT WEEK TO MAKE SURE THAT WE CAN GET IT ON EVERYBODY'S, UH, SCHEDULES ACCORDINGLY.
ANYBODY HAVE ANY QUESTIONS SO FAR? MM-HMM.
UM, PHASE TWO OF THE PARKING LOT IS PROGRESSING VERY NICELY.
THE DUMPSTER CONCRETE PAD WAS POURED AND ALSO THE WALLS CONSTRUCTED, CONSTRUCTED FOR THAT ENCLOSURE.
THEY ALSO HAVE BALLARDS, UM, UP AROUND IT.
YOU CAN ALSO SEE THE EXTERIOR WORK BEGINNING ON THE SERVER ROOM BECAUSE WE ARE BUILDING A VESTIBULE TO MAKE THAT, UM, TO MAKE THAT ENTRANCE TO THE SERVER ROOM MORE SECURE AND MORE SERVICEABLE FOR OUR COMPUTER SERVICES STAFF.
SO THEY'VE RIPPED OFF SOME OF THE EXTERIOR, UM, EXTERIOR.
I THINK THEY'RE METAL, UH, PANELS UP TOWARDS THE TOP.
AND, AND, UM, SOME OF THE STUCCO WORKED SO THAT THEY CAN START CONSTRUCTING THAT THE STAFF BATHROOMS HAVE BEEN DEMOED SO THAT THEY CAN PUT IN THE NEW FIXTURES AND MO WORK AND, UH, GET THOSE WORKING IN A MUCH BETTER ORDER FOR OUR STAFF.
THE DEMOING OF THE CEILING GRID IN THE SHELVING AND WORKROOM AREA, UM, POSED EXPOSED SEVERAL UNCON UNKNOWN CONDITIONS ABOVE THE, UM, CEILING GRID.
THERE WERE A LOT OF, UM, FORMER
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FORMERLY USED OUTLETS, JUNCTION BOXES, AND LIGHT FIXTURES THAT HAD PREVIOUSLY JUST KIND OF BEEN TUCKED UP THERE.UM, AND SO THEY WERE NOT IN THE QUOTE CUZ THEY WERE UNEXPECTED CONDITIONS.
SO THEY ARE WORKING WITH THEIR ELECTRICAL SUB TO BRING US A QUOTE TO COMPLETELY GET RID OF THOSE, UM, THOSE ITEMS THAT WOULD NOT BE COVERED IN THEIR CURRENT SCOPE OF WORK.
SO WE HAVE A PROGRESS MEETING TOMORROW MORNING AND I EXPECT TO HAVE THE QUOTE FOR THAT WORK TO BE DONE BY THEN.
ALONG ALONG WITH THAT, THERE'S BEEN A LOT OF EXCITEMENT OVER THE ACTIVITY AT THAT VERY PROMINENT CORNER AND IT SPARKED SOME MORE MEETINGS WITH COMMUNITY, UH, GROUPS AND INTERESTED PARTIES.
SO, UM, MARY AND I MET WITH THE BATON ROUGE GENERAL AND FRANKLIN AND ASSOCIATES ON, UM, MARCH 28TH TO GIVE THEM A BASIC RUNDOWN OF WHAT IS INCLUDED IN THE PROJECT, WHAT THEY CAN EXPECT.
AND, UM, THE IDEA THAT WE HAVE OF PUTTING SOME OF THAT SPACE BACK INTO PUBLIC USE AT THE CORNERS, UM, WAS DISCUSSED WITH THEM.
UH, IT IS NOT ACTUALLY A PART OF THE CURRENT PROJECT TO DO THAT POCKET PARK AS WHAT WE'RE CALLING IT, BUT THEY WERE EXCITED TO HEAR THAT THAT WAS SOMETHING THAT WE HAD PLANNED ON DOING BECAUSE, UM, BAT ROUGE'S GENERAL JUST RELEASED THEIR PLAN FOR A FORMER PARKING LOT ON FLORIDA BOULEVARD TO BECOME THE BATON ROUGE GENERAL PLAZA.
SO, UM, SO THEY'RE HOPING THAT WHAT WE DO CAN KIND OF REFLECT WHAT, UM, THEIR PLANS ARE.
UH, SO WE SCHEDULED A, A FOLLOW UP MEETING THAT WAS HELD YESTERDAY, WHICH MARY ATTENDED SINCE I WAS NOT IN TOWN.
AND, UH, WE ALSO INVITED OUR ARCHITECTS THAT ARE CURRENTLY WORKING ON THE OUTREACH PROJECT, WHICH IS DOMAIN ARCHITECTURE PLUS OUR REPRESENTATIVES FROM ARCHITECTURAL SERVICES BECAUSE ALSO, UH, DURING THIS PROCESS THERE WAS SOME CONFUSION ABOUT THE PERMITTING PROCESS AND WHAT EXACTLY WE HAD TO DO AS FAR AS THE MOVE BR PROGRAM GOES.
SO, UM, THERE ARE SOME CONCESSIONS THAT WE HAVE TO MAKE BY TO, TO ADHERE TO THE MOVE B STANDARDS THAT WERE NOT INITIALLY IN THE PROJECT.
SO IT WILL, I DON'T KNOW THAT IT WILL, UM, HAVE A CHANGE ORDER THAT WE'LL HAVE TO GO TO COUNCIL CUZ I DON'T, I DON'T HAVE THE AMOUNT YET, BUT WE DO HAVE TO ADD SOME BIOSWELLS ON THE WESTMORELAND SIDE OF THE PROPERTY.
AND WE ALSO HAVE TO ADD IN A HEAT ISLAND ON THE NORTH SIDE OF THE PARKING LOT THAT WILL TAKE UP ONE PARKING SPACE AT MARY.
REALLY WANTED FOR OUR, OUR BOOK MOBILES AND OUR PATRONS FOR THE, FOR THE BOOK SALE.
BUT IT WILL PROVIDE, UM, SOME ADDITIONAL SHADE AND IT WILL PROVIDE SOME, UM, NICE MORE, MORE NATURE FOR THE POCKET PARK IDEA THAT WE HAVE ANYHOW.
SO, BUT REGARDLESS, WE HAVE TO DO IT NOW.
WE'RE, WE JUST HAVE TO FIGURE OUT WHAT THE PRICE WILL BE, UM, FROM THE CURRENT, UH, CONTRACT IN THE MEETING THAT HAPPENED YESTERDAY, IT WAS DISCUSSED THAT IT WOULD BE BEST FOR THE REST OF THE WORK FOR THE POCKET PARK TO BE BID OUT BY ITSELF SEPARATELY AFTER WE WRAP UP, UM, THIS PROJECT WITH SIENNA CONSTRUCTION.
SO, UM, LOOKING AT INCORPORATING WHAT WE'RE GONNA HAVE TO DO WITH THE MOVE VR AND THE IDEAS THAT WE HAD BEFORE, UM, I BELIEVE DOMAIN WILL WORK WITH ARCHITECTURAL SERVICES TO, TO SQUARE THAT AWAY.
WE WILL DO MORE NATIVE PLANTS THERE, UM, BECAUSE THERE IS NO IRRIGATION AT THAT LOCATION.
SO WE WANT STUFF THAT'S GONNA BE HARDY AND GROW AND WE WON'T HAVE TO, UM, INSTALL IRRIGATION LINES AND ESPECIALLY SEEING HOW WE JUST REPLACED THE PARKING LOT AND THAT WOULDN'T BE VERY COST EFFECTIVE.
UM, SO WE WILL WORK ON THAT AND IT'LL BE A, A PHASE THREE FOUR FOR THE OUTREACH BUILDING.
WHERE WOULD THE POCKET PARK BE? I'M TRYING TO MM-HMM.
SO THE CORNER OF NORTH BOULEVARD AND ACADIAN, WE HAVE ALREADY TWO EXISTING, UM, ISLANDS ON EACH CORNER.
AND SO THEY'RE PRETTY, THEY'RE A DECENT SIZE.
SO WHAT WE'RE DOING IS WE'RE SHIFTING THE, UM, THE FENCE LINE, WHICH RIGHT NOW CUTS RIGHT OUT TO THE CORNER, BUT THERE'S NO REASON THAT CAN'T COME INSIDE.
SO THAT, THAT HEAT ISLAND IS NOW ON THE OUTSIDE OF THE FENCE OF THE PROPERTY LINE.
SO THE HEAT ISLAND WILL BE PART OF THE POCKET PARK? CORRECT.
THAT'S REALLY WHAT THE POCKET PARK ANSWER MY QUESTION IS GONNA BE.
SO, UM, THEY'RE ALSO GONNA PLAY AROUND WITH SOME ADDITIONAL AREA,
[00:30:01]
UM, CLOSER TO THE ENTRANCE OF, FOR THE, UM, WHAT IS IT? THE, THE LOADING DOCK THAT'S OFF OF ACADIAN, CUZ THERE'S AN ADDITIONAL ISLAND THERE AS WELL THAT'S ON THE OPPOSITE SIDE OF THE DUMPSTER.UM, SO WE MAY, UM, TAKE IN A LITTLE BIT MORE OF THE PARKING LOT CLOSE TO THE CORNER BECAUSE THEN WE HAVE THAT OTHER, UM, ISLAND TO PLAY WITH TO, UM, TO GET BACK THE PARKING SPACE THAT WE MAY LOSE WITH, UM, WITH THE POCKET PARK.
IS, IS MIDC CITY WORKING WITH Y'ALL ALSO? OR THAT CITY REDEVELOPMENT ALLIANCE? PERRY.
SO MIDCITY, UH, REDEVELOPMENT, I KNOW.
UH, I, THIS IS BAT ROUGE GENERAL AND, UH, I MEAN, YOU MET WITH BATON ROUGE GENERAL AND I THINK AT SOME POINT, UM, BATON ROUGE GENERAL WORKED WITH MID-CITY.
I JUST WAS WONDERING IF THEY WERE PART OF THE GROUP MEETING, UH, WITH YOU, BUT NOT FRANKLIN AND ASSOCIATES IS PART OF MID CITY AND FRANKLIN AND ASSOCIATES WAS AT THAT MEETING.
AND I MET WITH BERNARD TERRACE, CIVIC ASSOCIATION BOARD, UM, BECAUSE THEY WERE ALSO, THEY THOUGHT THAT WE WERE GONNA, AND THAT A FAST FOOD RESTAURANT WAS BEING
THAT IS NOT TRUE
SO, UM, I SHOWED THEM THE, THE CURRENT DESIGN, WHICH WILL VERY MUCH CHANGE, BUT, UM, YOU KNOW, JUST LET THEM KNOW THE INVESTMENT THAT WE'RE MAKING ON THAT CORNER AND THAT, UM, THINGS WILL, WILL COME THAT WILL BRING SOME OF THE PROPERTY OUT MORE INTO PUBLIC USE.
AND WE DISCUSSED THE OPTION OF EVENTUALLY HAVING WIFI, UM, ACCESS POINTS THAT WOULD HAVE, UM, WIFI SERVICE IN THOSE, IN THOSE AREAS.
UM, BLUE BONNET, WE RECEIVED THE CONSTRUCTION DOCUMENTS AROUND APRIL 5TH, AND WE HAVE PROVIDED SOME COMMENTS TO THE ARCHITECT, UH, WHICH WE HAD SEVERAL COMMENTS AND, UM, WE REALIZED THAT WE HAVE NOT RECEIVED SAMPLES OF THE PROPOSED CERAMIC TILE OR NEW FLOORING IN THE TEEN ENTRANCE.
AND THEY STATE THAT THEY, THEY SHOULD BE READY TO GO OUT TO BID FOR MAY.
UM, BUT AFTER REVIEWING THE COMMENTS AND AFTER REVIEWING THE DOCUMENTS AND GETTING THE COMMENTS BACK, WE DON'T REALLY THINK THAT THAT WILL ACTUALLY BE THE CASE, BUT HOPEFULLY IT WILL BE SHORTLY THEREAFTER.
THE ROOF REPLACEMENTS, TECHNICALLY WE DO HAVE ALL NEW ROOFS, BUT, UM, THE ACTUAL CONTRACT ITSELF CONTRACT WORK IS STILL NOT DONE.
UM, THEY ARE CONTINUING TO PURSUE LIQUIDATED DAMAGES, UM, SINCE OUR LAST MEETING, SOME PRESSURE WASHING AND SOME EXTERIOR PAINTING HAS HAPPENED AT JONES CREEK AND BLUE BONNET.
THE LARGEST THING THAT IS LEFT IS THE CUPOLA WORK AT JONES CREEK.
WE APPROVED THEIR WORK, UM, PROPOSAL, HOW THEY WOULD GET THE MATERIAL OFF OF THE ROOF SAFELY AND DEPOSIT IT IN THE DUMPSTER.
UM, HOWEVER, WE SUGGESTED PERHAPS THAT THEY COULD DO IT OVER THE EASTER HOLIDAY AND WE WOULD CLOSE THAT SATURDAY SO THAT THEY WOULDN'T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT ANYBODY BEING AT THE BUILDING, BUT THEY COULD NOT GET PEOPLE TO WORK.
AND THEN THEY STILL HAVE NOT PROVIDED US WITH AN ALTERNATIVE DATE OF WORK FOR US TO APPROVE.
UM, SO IT'S REALLY KIND OF AT A STANDSTILL AND I'M LETTING ARCHITECTURAL SERVICES IN THE PARISH ATTORNEY'S OFFICE KIND OF HANDLE, HANDLE IT FROM THERE.
WE WILL HAVE A, ANOTHER PROGRESS MEETING SUPPOSEDLY NEXT WEEK WEDNESDAY, THOUGH I'M NOT SURE WHAT, WHAT THEY'RE REALLY GOING TO, UH, REPORT FOR US TO HAVING BEEN DONE.
THE MISCELLANEOUS REPAIR PACKAGE WORK BEGAN ON MARCH 29TH AT PRIDE AND THEN ON APRIL 6TH AT ZACHARY.
UM, THAT WORK CONSISTED OF PAINTING INTERIOR WALLS AND STEALING SURFACES.
UM, THEY'RE STILL CONTINUING WORK AT ZACHARY, BUT EVERYTHING AT PRIDE SHOULD HAVE BEEN DONE.
THOUGH WE HAVEN'T ACCEPTED THE WORK.
UH, WE STILL HAVE TO HAVE A WALKTHROUGH.
UM, OUR MONTHLY MEETING IS NEXT WEEK ON THE 27TH
[00:35:01]
THAT WILL, UM, THAT WILL SERVE AS THE WALKTHROUGH OF THE WORK FOR, UM, PRIDE, WHICH, UH, THEY WERE, THEY ALSO PRESSURE WASHED, PRESSURE WASHED THE ENTIRE EXTERIOR AND THE STUCCO WAS PAINTED.UM, AND THEN THEY WENT BACK AND FINISHED A FEW SMALL AREAS ON THE INTERIOR WHERE THERE WAS SOME WATER DAMAGE OUTSIDE OF THE MEETING ROOM AND SMALL TRIM PLACES IN CHILDREN'S AND THE PERIODICALS ROOM AND THE STAFF RESTROOM.
BUT FOUR, THE LOVELY PRIDE HISTORY, ANNUAL HISTORY FESTIVAL, COMMUNITY HISTORY FESTIVAL, THE BUILDING SHOULD LOOK MUCH IMPROVED FROM THE LAST YEAR'S EVENT.
SADLY, WE COULD NOT SCHEDULE, UM, A REFRESH OF THE LANDSCAPING ALSO BEFORE THE ANNUAL COMMITTEE HISTORY FESTIVAL, BUT I AM WORKING ON GETTING THAT WORK, UM, SCHEDULED AS WELL WITHIN THE NEXT COUPLE OF WEEKS.
ARE THERE ANY QUESTIONS? YEAH, ABOUT THE COMMUNITY REFRIGERATOR? MM-HMM.
THIS WOULD REALLY BE THE FIRST ONE THAT IS NOT ON GOVERNMENT STREET.
THERE'S ONE AT YES, WE CANNIBAL THE RED SHOES.
OR IS THERE ONE OTHER ONE? NO, I THINK THAT'S THE TWO.
SO THIS WOULD BE THE FOURTH ONE.
AND THEN REMEMBER WE HAD MENTIONED THAT WE WERE GONNA PUT IN A COMMUNITY FRIDGE IN SCOTLANDVILLE A AFTER THE RENOVATION, BUT THERE WASN'T MUCH SENSE IN, WE DIDN'T WANNA DO IT BEFORE THERE WAS GONNA BE ALL OF THIS ACTIVITY UP AT SCOTLANDVILLE FOR THE RENOVATION.
AND, AND WHO MANAGES THAT TO MAKE SURE THAT IT, IT, IT'S RUN SMOOTHLY.
AND THAT'S UP, THAT'S UP TO FORM 2 25.
DID THEY PROVIDE ANY TYPE OF AN INSURANCE OR ANYTHING FOR, UH, ANYTHING THAT MIGHT GO WRONG? MIGHT GO WRONG? SO I'M NOT SURE WHO DESIGNED THE ORIGINAL COMMUNITY FRIDGE, UM, PROJECT, BUT THERE IS LIKE A BASELINE OF THIS IS WHAT WE ACCEPT.
UM, AND VOLUNTEERS ARE EXPECTED TO BRING THINGS THAT MEET THE, THE CRITERIA.
SO LIKE NO OUTDATED FOOD, THINGS LIKE THAT.
AND THEN THEY'RE THE ONES THAT ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR GOING IN AND CHECKING ON A REGULAR BASIS TO DISPOSE OF ANY FOOD THAT MAY HAVE GONE BAD.
UH, IS, IS THIS, I MEAN, I'M, I'M TRYING TO, IS THIS JUST LIKE A, WHEN YOU SAY COMMUNITY REFRIGERATOR IS, IS THIS LIKE A FOOD DISTRIBUTION AREA? I MEAN, WHAT, WHAT IS IT? I MEAN, SO THERE'S USUALLY A PANTRY AREA THAT HAS SHELF STABLE ITEMS THAT PEOPLE CAN TAKE AWAY, AND THEN THERE IS A REFRIGERATOR THAT THEY CAN GO AND PICK UP PRE, UM, USUALLY LIKE PREPACKAGED ITEMS, LIKE, UH, LIKE A SINGLE SERVE.
SO, SO THERE'S SOMEONE LIKE THEY'RE MONITORING THIS OR IS THIS JUST KIND OF OPEN TO ANYBODY WHO JUST SHOWS UP AND JUST GOES IN THERE? EVERYBODY WHO SHOWS UP AND NEEDS, NEEDS SOMETHING OPEN.
AND OTHER COMMUNITIES THROUGHOUT THE UNITED STATES ARE DOING THIS AS WELL.
VINCENT DEPAUL AND ALL THESE SHELTERS.
ARE THEY TIED IN WITH THIS OR IS THIS A, THE GROUP THAT'S RUNNING IT, WHO ARE THEY? YEAH.
I MEAN, I'M JUST TRYING TO, THE, THIS GROUP, THIS FORM 2 25.
I MEAN, WHO ARE THEY? WHAT ARE MANAGE THAT'S THE YOUNG PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATION IN, UH, THEY USED TO DO THE ONE BOOK, ONE COMMUNITY, UM, KICKOFF PARTY WITH US.
THEY, IT USED TO BE CALLED FORM 35 35.
NOW IT'S, I WAS LIKE, WHAT IS THIS NEW GROUP? I'VE, IT'S LIKE I'VE NEVER, I HAVEN'T HEARD OF THIS BEFORE.
GAMES SO THAT PEOPLE DIDN'T THINK THAT THEY COULDN'T BE ACTIVE AFTER AGE 35.
I'M LIKE, OKAY, WHAT, ALL RIGHT.
I TOLD 'EM, I SAID, GUYS, YOU REALIZE I WOULD NOT BE ABLE TO BE A MEMBER IF IT WAS 35
SO THEY, THEY OPEN UP THESE AREAS AND IT'S JUST AN HONOR SYSTEM.
THEY STOCK THESE THINGS WITH LIKE, CANNED GOODS AND, AND THOSE KIND OF FOODS, I ASSUME NON-PERISHABLE TYPE STUFF.
NO, THAT'S THE POINT OF THE HAVING THE REFRIGERATOR AND THE REFRIGERATOR IS JUST, IS THAT OPTION FOR HAVING PERISHABLE ITEMS AVAILABLE FOR PEOPLE BECAUSE YOU'RE NOT GONNA BE ABLE TO GET A PERISHABLE ITEM
[00:40:01]
AT A FOOD BANK.IT'S, THAT'S ALWAYS DRY GOODS.
SO THIS IS SOMETHING THAT THEY WOULD HAVE, UM, A WEEKLY SCHEDULE AND THAT WAS THE OTHER, UM, THE OTHER PART THAT WE HAVE TO BE PRESENTED WITH.
AND, UM, I WAS GOING TO INVITE THEM HERE SO THAT YOU CAN HAVE A BETTER PICTURE OF WHAT THEIR RESPONSIBILITIES ARE.
UM, PERHAPS NEXT MONTH OR JUNE.
UM, BECAUSE THEY'RE FOOTING THE BILL FOR THE, THE STRUCTURE AND THE FRIDGE.
I, I, I'M JUST, AND KNOWING HOW THAT WORKS AND IN PRACTICE RIGHT.
IN MY OFFICE, IT DOESN'T WORK WELL,
AND I DIDN'T KNOW IF THERE WAS A NEXUS THERE.
I MEAN, I WAS TRYING TO, SO FORUM 2 25 HAD THEIR FIRST, UM, LUNCH SERVICE WITH ST.
VINCENT DEPAUL ON WEDNESDAY OF THIS PAST WEEK.
AND THEN THEY QUARTERLY GO TO ST.
VINCENT DEPAUL AND DO BAGS OF HOPE AND THEY QUARTERLY GO TO THE BATON ROUGE AREA FOOD BANK OKAY.
AND I WAS THERE WITH THE SERVICE VP LAST TUESDAY AT, UM, THE FOOD BANK SIP AND SORT TO KIND OF DISCUSS, CUZ I WANTED TO MAKE SURE THAT WE HAVE, YOU KNOW, THE PLACEMENT CORRECT OF THE OUTLET BECAUSE WE DON'T WANT IT BEING TAMPERED WITH AND MASKED WITH AND ALL THAT.
AND THEY HAVE SOMEONE THAT'S GONNA BE DONATING THE MATERIALS TO DO THE SHED STRUCTURE.
SO THEY ARE ALWAYS ACTIVELY LOOKING FOR NEW SERVICE IDEAS.
AND THEY WANTED TO DO THIS BECAUSE IT WAS A WAY THAT THEY THEMSELVES, YOU KNOW, CONTROLLED THE SCHEDULE VERSUS HAVING TO GET ON THE FOOD BANK SCHEDULE OR HAVING TO GET ON ST.
IT WAS A LITTLE BIT MORE, UM, THEY COULD CONTROL WHO'S GONNA SIGN UP TO GO AND TAKE CARE OF THE FRIDGE AND MAKE SURE THAT IT'S CLEAN.
SO, WORTHY ENDEAVOR, I, I WAS JUST, I, I DIDN'T KNOW HOW THAT WORKED IN, IN PRACTICE.
WHO WAS THE GROUP THAT APPROACHED US FOR SCOTLANDVILLE? UM, DANG IT.
UM, IT WOULD BE A SIMILAR SITUATION.
AGAIN, WE'RE PROVIDING THE SPACE, THE POWER, MARY, YOU'LL THINK ABOUT IT.
AND, AND WHO'S RESPONSIBLE CLEANING UP THE AREA? THEY, THEY, THEY'RE RESPONSIBLE FOR THAT? YES.
CAN YOU CHECK TO SEE IF THEY'VE GOT AN INSURANCE POLICY AND IF THEY CAN ADD US AS AN ADDITIONAL INSURED? SURE.
AND WE'LL GET TO Y'ALL'S INSURANCE.
UH, WE'LL GO OVER OUR COMPUTER SERVICES NEXT.
ARE WE DONE WITH MISCELLANEOUS? NO, WE'RE NOT.
WE'RE STILL DEALING WITH THAT.
WE FINISHED MAINTENANCE AND ADDITIONAL CAPITAL PROJECT.
NOW WE'RE ON MIS NOW WE'RE MISCELLANEOUS.
I JUST WON'T, UNLESS THERE ARE ANY OTHER FURTHER QUESTIONS.
SO, UM, THERE IS NO UPDATE ON THE WEBSITE.
UM, WE HAVE, UH, REACHED A AGREEMENT WITH, UM, COX FOR OUR E RATE FIBER SERVICES.
UH, THE INTERNET SPEEDS WILL INCREASE FROM 10 GIGABYTES TO 50, UM, SPEEDS AT THE BRANCH.
AND REGIONAL BRANCHES WILL INCREASE FROM ONE TO FIVE.
AND, UM, IT STAFF ARE WORKING TO PROCURE AND DEPLOY THE SUPPLIES AND EQUIPMENT THAT ARE GONNA BE NEEDED FOR THAT INCREASED BANDWIDTH SPEED, WHICH ALL APPROVED IN THE BUDGET.
UM, WE DON'T HAVE THE CONTRACT IN PLACE YET, BUT WE'RE WORKING ON REVIEWING THE CONTRACT DOCUMENTS AND WE'LL BE GETTING THAT BACK OVER TO COX FOR THEM TO SIGN.
THE CURRENT SERVICE IS NOT UP UNTIL JULY 1ST.
SO, UM, TSG INSTALLED THE LOVELY NEW SCREEN BEHIND US, THIS WONDERFUL NEW GOOSENECK, BUT I'M STILL GONNA USE THE LAIER MINE
UH, THEY ALSO, UM, UPGRADED THE SPEAKERS ON THE TERRACE.
SO THEY ARE NOW BLUETOOTH SPEAKERS.
[00:45:01]
MARY WENT THROUGH THE, THE TRAINING.UM, AND THEY HAVE MOVED THE OLD SMART BOARD FROM THE BOARDROOM INTO THE CONFERENCE ROOM.
IS IT CONFERENCE ROOM? C TWO B TWO B? MINE TWO B.
UM, SO THE, UM, SO THE PATRONS CAN NOW USE THE SMART BOARD IN THAT ROOM INSTEAD OF THE TV.
THAT I GUESS NEVER REALLY WORKED VERY WELL.
THEY'RE WORKING ON THE BUDGET FOR NEXT YEAR.
UM, THE UPGRADING TO TBSS SOLUTIONS FOR MOBILE PRINTING AND RESERVATIONS.
THE CONFIGURATION WORK IS COMPLETE.
THEY HAVE BEEN TESTING THE COIN APP AND THE MOBILE PRINTING.
TRAINING IS SCHEDULED FOR STAFF EARLY NEXT MONTH.
UH, ALSO FROM TECHNICAL SERVICES KEEPING LOUIS KEEP LOUISIANA BEAUTIFUL.
THEIR SUPPLIES FOR THEIR, UM, CLEANUP PROGRAM HAVE BEEN RECEIVED AND WE ARE WAITING ON FURTHER INSTRUCTIONS ON HOW TO PROCEED WITH CIRCULATING THOSE ITEMS TO OUR PUBLIC.
ANY QUESTIONS SO FAR? ALL RIGHT.
THE STRATEGIC PLAN, THE DETAILS THAT HAVE THE ACTUAL ACTION ITEMS AND TASKS THAT THE STAFF NEED TO DO IN ORDER TO FULLY REALIZE THE STRATEGIC PLAN HAVE BEEN FINALIZED AND RULED OUT TO THE STAFF.
UM, SO THAT EVERYONE KNOWS HOW THEY CAN PLAY THEIR PART AND THE ROUGH TIMELINE THAT IT'S GOING TO TAKE TO ACTUALLY ACHIEVE THESE ITEMS. OUR ORGANIZATIONAL REVIEW CONSULTANT, WE HAVE BIWEEKLY MEETINGS, UH, SCHEDULED WITH HER THOUGH SHE DID CANCEL MONDAY'S MEETING.
SHE DIDN'T HAVE A WHOLE LOT TO, UM, TO GIVE TO US, BUT SHE SENT US A, UH, QUICK REPORT.
UM, SHE HAS REACHED OUT TO 15 PEER LIBRARIES TO, UM, DO HER RESEARCH FOR THE SALARY STUDY PORTION OF THIS REVIEW.
UM, AND SO THIS WILL COME IN VERY HANDY WHEN WE DO HAVE OUR FOLLOW UP MEETING WITH THE MAYOR AND, UM, GLENN CURTIS TO BE ABLE TO PRESENT TO THEM AND HOPEFULLY, UH, HAVE BETTER SUPPORTING DOCUMENTATION FOR INCREASING SALARIES FOR THE DIRECTOR AND ALL LIBRARY PERSONNEL.
AND WHEN IS THIS GONNA HAPPEN? THIS MEETING WITH THE MAYOR? SOMETIME AFTER MAY WHEN WE RECEIVED THE FINAL DRAFT OF THE REPORT.
UM, THE STAFF SURVEY, WHICH IS, YOU KNOW, GETTING EVERYONE'S INPUT THAT IS WENT OUT AND THEY HAD TO COMPLETE IT BY Y BY YESTERDAY, UM, SHE WILL HAVE US A DRAFT OF A FULL REPORT BY MID-MAY WITH A FINAL DRAFT AT THE END OF MAY.
UM, SO YOU ALL WILL RECEIVE COPIES OF THE FINAL DRAFT FOR THE BUDGET MEETING OR THE BUDGET WORKSHOP THAT WE NEED TO SCHEDULE IN, UM, JUNE.
SO, UM, ANY PERSONNEL REQUESTS THAT WE MIGHT HAVE WILL BE BASED OFF OF THIS REPORT.
SO IT'LL GIVE YOU A LITTLE BIT MORE CONTEXT TO ANY OF THOSE REQUESTS THAT WE HAVE.
CHA HAVE ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT THAT? I'LL BE VERY CURIOUS WHAT THAT COMES, WHAT THEY COME BACK WITH.
SO WE ADDED AN ADDITIONAL LIBRARY TO HER, UM, SALARY STUDY.
WE ADDED ASCENSION PARISH AS THEY ARE A DIRECT, YOU KNOW, AREA COMPETITOR.
SHE HAD LIVINGSTON AND JEFFERSON PARISH AND THEN 12 OTHERS THAT SHE IDENTIFIED THROUGH THE INSTITUTE OF MUSEUM AND LIBRARY SERVICES.
BASING IT OFF OF, YOU KNOW, POPULATION.
UM, SIMILAR COSTS OF LIVING, I THINK SERVICE HOURS AS WELL.
UH, MARY AND I BOTH, UH, ATTENDED CEP TRAINING FOR LOCAL OFFICIALS AND EMPLOYEES.
UM, THERE, THERE WERE SOME UPDATES TO THE LOUISIANA REVISED STATUTES AS FAR AS EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS GOES.
SO THEY'RE KIND OF, THEY'RE REQUIRED TO GO AND GIVE TRAININGS THROUGHOUT ALL OF THE PARISHES
[00:50:01]
BECAUSE THAT, UM, UPDATE HAPPENED.SO, UH, WELL WE HAD AN APPROVED JANITORIAL CONTRACT ON THE 12TH OF THIS MONTH, BUT, UH, WE WERE JUST TOLD THAT THE, UM, THE VENDOR DECIDED NOT TO SIGN THE PROPOSALS.
SO WE WILL NOW BE GOING BACK TO COUNCIL NEXT WEEK TO ACCEPT THE NEXT, UH, LOWEST BIDDER AFTER THAT.
BUT, UM, WE HAVE A CONTRACT IN PLACE THROUGH THE END OF THIS MONTH AND WE SHOULD BE OKAY AND HAVE, UH, THE NEW CONTRACT BY MAY 1ST.
UM, SO ALL KINDS OF FUN LATELY.
LIBRARY SECURITY STAFF, THE INCIDENT REPORTING COMMITTEE CONTINUES TO WORK ON A NEW DRAFT OF THE PATRON POLICIES.
THEY HAVE GIVEN IT TO LIBRARY ADMINISTRATION.
WE NEED TO SIT DOWN AND LOOK AT IT ALL TOGETHER TO SEE IF THERE ARE ANY ADDITIONAL TWEAKS THAT WE NEED TO, UM, TO MAKE.
BUT WE WILL THEN PASS THAT ON TO THE PARISH ATTORNEY'S OFFICE, WHICH I SPOKE WITH THEM THIS MORNING AND I JUST LET THEM KNOW THAT IT SHOULD BE COMING AND THAT WE NEED THEM TO REVIEW IT AND MAKE ANY SUGGESTIONS OR CHANGES SO THAT WE CAN INCORPORATE IT SO THAT BY NEXT MONTH'S MEETING, YOU ALL CAN HAVE IT TO BE ABLE TO VOTE ON IT OR MAKE ANY CHANGES AND THEN VOTE ON IT.
UM, SO KIND OF IN IN GOOD TIMING WITH, UM, WITH THAT PROCESS AND WITH SOME UNFORTUNATE RECENT INCIDENTS THAT HAVE HAPPENED AT RIVER CENTER, WE HAVE ALSO, UM, DECIDED THAT MYSELF AND TWO MEMBERS OF THE COMMITTEE WILL BE ATTENDING THE PUBLIC LIBRARY SAFETY SUMMIT NEXT WEEK IN COLUMBUS, OHIO.
IT IS BEING HOSTED BY THE COLUMBUS METROPOLITAN LIBRARY AND LIBRARY JOURNAL.
WE FOUND OUT ABOUT IT BY, FROM ONE OF OUR VENDORS.
UM, AND SEVERAL, UH, LARGE URBAN LIBRARY DIRECTORS OR CITY LIBRARIANS WILL BE THERE, UM, PRESENTING ON THE TOPIC CUZ IT IS SOMETHING THAT IS, UM, THAT HAS BEEN FRONT OF MIND FOR LIBRARY STAFF, UH, ESPECIALLY SINCE COVID AND CIVILITY SEEMS TO NOT BE A THING THAT PEOPLE SEEM TO PRACTICE VERY WELL, UM, THESE DAYS.
SO WE THOUGHT IT WOULD BE GOOD FOR, FOR US COMMITTEE MEMBERS TO GO AND, AND TRY AND GET EVEN MORE INFORMATION TO SEE HOW WE CAN MAKE OUR PRACTICE OF, UH, REPORTING INCIDENTS ANY BETTER.
IF THERE IS ANYTHING THAT WE COULD INCORPORATE TO, IN THOSE PATRON POLICIES BEFORE, YOU KNOW, WE REALLY, UM, GET THEM FINALIZED.
SO, UM, WE'RE VERY INTERESTED IN SEEING THAT.
UM, WE'VE ALSO BEEN WORKING ON, UH, UPDATING THE SCOPE OF DUTIES FOR OUR LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS THAT SERVE AS, UM, OUR BACKUP HERE WHEN WE NEED THEM.
WE MET WITH GLARE LAST WEEK TO DISCUSS SOME OF, UM, THOSE CHANGES AND MAKING SURE THAT THEY'RE UP TO DATE AND EVERYBODY GETS ON THE SAME PAGE ABOUT WHAT PEOPLE ARE SUPPOSED, WHICH PEOPLE ARE SUPPOSED TO BE DOING WHAT, WHO INITIATES WHAT.
AND, UM, AND MAKING SURE THAT, THAT EVERYBODY UNDERSTANDS THE GOAL OF THE LIBRARY AND, UH, AND WHAT WE CAN AND CANNOT DO.
SO WE WILL BE WORKING ON UPDATING THAT A LITTLE BIT MORE, UH, AND GETTING THAT TO BLAIR AND THEM PROBABLY MEETING WITH THE OTHER, UM, LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES THAT ALSO WORK IN OUR LIBRARIES AT ZACHARY AND BAKER AS WELL.
ANYBODY HAVE ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT THAT? THANK YOU.
UM, THE EARL KING, EARL K LONG DEVELOPMENT, UM, PEOPLE WILL ATTEND NEXT MONTH'S BOARD MEETING IN MAY, UM, TO SHARE THEIR PLANS ON HOW THE START BRANCH, UM, PLAYS INTO THAT.
UH, THE FOLKS FROM THE EARL K LONG REDEVELOPMENT, DO YOU HAVE THEIR NAMES? MARRIED.
UM, THE DELMONT GARDENS FUTURE DELMONT GARDENS, UH, SITE, UNFORTUNATELY, AFTER REVIEWING THE INITIAL PROPOSED PLOT OF LAND, IT'S REALLY NOT GOING TO WORK FOR US.
IT DOES NOT MEET OUR NEEDS AS FAR AS THE SIZE OF THE BUILDING AND THE AMOUNT OF, UM, PARKING.
[00:55:01]
WERE UNABLE TO ACQUIRE A STRIP OF LAND THAT IS ON THE MOST PROMINENT PART OF THE PROPERTY THAT PERSON WILL NOT SELL.AND SO WE WOULD BE BEHIND THIS STRIP MALL THAT HAS TAX AND SOMETHING, SOMETHING ELSE ALREADY IN IT.
SO, UM, THEY ARE TRYING TO LOOK FOR OTHER, UM, PIECES OF PROPERTY ALONG THAT, UM, PLANK WORLD REDEVELOPMENT PLAN THAT MIGHT WORK FOR US.
THEY ACTUALLY, I THINK THEY JUST SENT US A, AN INVITATION TO YEAH.
TO REVIEW WHAT THEY'VE BEEN ABLE TO COME UP WITH SINCE WE SENT THEM AWAY AND SAID WE NEED SOMETHING ELSE.
SO ROSIE THOUGH SHE IS NOT HERE, SHE'S BEING TOLD THAT SHE
UM, BUT WE'VE GOTTA GET IT IN BEF AFTER LABOR DAY, BUT BEFORE WE LEAVE FOR ELA MEMORIAL DAY AFTER, WHAT DID I SAY? LABOR DAY? YES.
AFTER MEMORIAL DAY, BUT BEFORE WE LEAVE FOR ALA AT THE END OF JUNE.
PENCIL US IN FOR LIKE EVERY DAY.
WHERE'S A LA THIS YEAR? IT'S IN CHICAGO.
AND SO PART OF THAT IS BECAUSE AFTER THAT IS THEN 4TH OF JULY AND THEN AFTER THAT L LA IS IN BATON ROUGE HERE, AND THEN IT'S BASICALLY Y'ALL'S NEXT BOARD MEETING.
SO THERE'S NOT REALLY A WHOLE LOT OF WIGGLE ROOM FOR HAVING IT IN JULY THIS YEAR, SO.
UM, ONE LAST THING IS, UH, MY MEETING TODAY WITH THE PARISH ATTORNEY'S OFFICE DID ALSO FOCUS ON, UM, WHAT WE HAD TALKED ABOUT AS FAR AS THE DIRECTOR'S SALARY AND WHAT OPTIONS THAT WE HAVE, WHICH ARE NOT REALLY MANY.
UM, WE CANNOT DO A CONTRACT JUST FOR THE LIBRARY DIRECTOR AND SETTING THE SALARY THAT WAY.
UM, THAT WILL NOT PASS MUSTER AS FAR AS FEDERAL CLAUSES GO WITH THEM BEING IN CHARGE OF THE EMPLOYEES OF THE CITY PARISH, BUT THEM BEING A CONTRACT WORKER.
SO, UM, SO THAT BASICALLY EITHER WE GET A, WE GET CITY PARISH TO FILE ON THE A PAY RAISE OR THAT'S IT.
I MEAN, YOU CANS AND THAT HYBRID WHERE PART OF ITS CONTRACT AND PART OF ITS, THEY'D STILL BE RESPONSIBLE FOR ALL CITY PARISH EMPLOYEES, BUT THEY THEMSELVES WOULD NOT BE A CITY PARISH EMPLOYEE.
SO, YOU KNOW, WE CAN SET THE SALARY BASED OFF OF THE PAY SCALE, BUT IT HAS TO, YOU KNOW, YOU WANT A REASONABLE AMOUNT OF ROOM SO THAT THEY WOULD STAY AND GROW AND HAVE SOME PLACE TO GO.
UM, THERE IS THE POTENTIAL OF ASKING FOR THE DIRECTOR TO BE PLACED ON A HIGHER STEP THAN THEY ARE, BUT THAT IS A REQUEST.
UM, AND THAT MAY BE SOMETHING THAT WITH THE CONSULTANT'S ORGANIZATIONAL REVIEW REPORT, WE CAN ARGUE FOR, BUT IT'S STILL NOT GREAT BECAUSE ALL OF THE CITY PARISH PAY SCALES AREN'T GREAT.
WELL, I I, I HAD HEARD, UH, I I THINK AS ONE OF THE NEW LOCAL NEWS STATIONS HAD INDICATED THAT, UH, THEY HAD DONE A, A REPORT REGARDING THE, THE, OUR, OUR BOARD BEING UNABLE TO HIRE A, A DIRECTOR AND, AND, UH, I I, I BELIEVE WITHIN THE REPORT, THE, THE, THE MAYOR INDICATED SHE WAS WAITING TO HEAR FROM US.
I ASSUME THAT'S WHAT THIS STUDY IS.
IS I, IS THAT RESPONSE CORRECT.
SO INVESTIGATING FIRST, IF, IF WE COULD ACTUALLY MAKE THEM A CONTRACT WORKER BEING TOLD THAT IS NOT THE CASE NOW, UM, WHAT DOES THE SALARY STUDY SAY? UM, AND WHAT CAN WE DO WITH THAT ORGANIZATIONAL REVIEW? UM, THAT WILL GET US ANYWHERE AND WITHIN OUR
[01:00:01]
OWN BUDGETARY PROCESS.WE, WE WILL LOOK INTO THE LOUISIANA LIBRARY, UM, STATE BOARD OF EXAMINERS CERTIFICATION TO SEE IF THERE'S ANYTHING THAT WE CAN DO WITH THAT.
BUT IT'S SEEMS THAT ANYTHING THAT WE CAN DO WOULD STILL BE JUST A, UM, BUMP ON THE EXISTING PAY SCALE.
LIKE AFTER COMPLETING YOUR FIRST SIX MONTHS OF SUCCESSFUL EMPLOYMENT, WE COULD GIVE YOU ANOTHER STEP.
BUT THAT'S, AGAIN, STILL ALL TIED TO THAT CITY PARISH PAY SCALE.
AND HOW FAST DO YOU WANNA GET 'EM TO THE TOP.
UM, AND I'VE HEARD OTHER PEOPLE IN THE CITY PARISH, WHENEVER THEY MOVE UP TO A ROLE OR WERE DOING MULTIPLE JOBS, HAD MULTIPLE TITLES THAT, YOU KNOW, THEY, THEY FELT LIKE NO ONE EVER TOLD THEM, YOU KNOW, THANK YOU MUCH LESS PAID THEM FOR IT.
UH, BUT, UH, IS THERE ANYTHING WE CAN DO FOR ANYONE THAT STEPS UP INTO THAT KIND OF A ROLE? WE HAVE, UM, I AM GETTING PAID AT SPENCER'S ON, ON AT SPENCER'S LEVEL? LEVEL? YES.
AT MY, AT MY STEP THAT I WAS AT BEFORE I WAS BUMPED UP TO THE DIRECTORS.
WELL THAT'S, THAT'S, THAT'S GOOD.
I HOPE THAT WAS A SIGNIFICANT
DO Y'ALL HAVE ANY OTHER QUESTIONS ABOUT THE MISCELLANEOUS STUFF SO I CAN TURN IT OVER TO PATRICIA? DO YOU HAVE A DIFFERENT TITLE OTHER THAN DEPUTY DIRECTOR OR INTERIM LIBRARY? DIRECTOR.
I'VE BEEN TRYING TO GET USED TO SAYING THAT INSTEAD OF DEPUTY LIBRARY DIRECTOR, WE, AND SIGNED OFF ON OUR THING TODAY.
I THINK IT'S UP UPDATED IN LIKE HALF OF THE STUFF THAT I HAVE, AND THEN IN THE OTHER HALF IT'S STILL DEPUTY DIRECTOR, SO.
OKAY, BEFORE MOVING ON, IS THERE ANY PUBLIC COMMENT ON ANY OF THE ITEMS LISTED UNDER ROMAN NUMERAL FOUR ON THE AGENDA REPORTS BY THE DIRECTOR? SEEING NONE, THERE ARE NO COMMITTEE REPORTS.
UNFINISHED BUSINESS UPDATE ON SOUTH BRANCH LIBRARY, MS. PATRICIA HUSBAND WILL DELIVER THIS REPORT.
THIS IS GONNA BE SHORT AND SWEET.
THE PROJECT WAS ADVERTISED APRIL 14TH, I FOUND IT IN THE ADVOCATE.
AND IT'S SCHEDULED TO BE ADVERTISED APRIL 21ST AND 28TH.
A PRE-BID MEETING WILL BE HANDLED APRIL 25TH ON THE SITE, THE CONSTRUCTION SITE.
AND THEN, UH, BIDS WILL BE DUE MAY 11TH, UH, IN PURCHASING.
SO WE HOPE TO HAVE THE PROJECT AWARDED, HOPEFULLY BY THE END OF MAY SO THAT WE CAN BREAK GROUND THIS SUMMER.
AND YOU TALKING ABOUT BREAKING GROUND THIS SUMMER? YES.
ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT SOUTH BRANCH? I'M JUST EXCITED.
YEAH, WELL THEY'RE, THEY'RE ALREADY FOLKS IN MY AREA ALREADY ANTICIPATING THE END OF JUNE
THEY'RE SO, UH, JUST THERE, THERE AS THE CONSTRUCTION GOES ON, UH, OVER IN THAT AREA.
WELL, I'VE BEEN ASKED IF THE PARKING GARAGE IS THE LIBRARY, WHERE'S THE LIBRARY GONNA BE? WHEN'S IT GOING TO? UM, SO RIGHT NOW MY ANSWER HAS BEEN, WE THINK THE END OF JUNE.
SO, SO WE'RE HOPEFUL THAT WE'RE HOPEFUL.
SO, WE'LL, WE'LL HAVE THE SHOVEL CEREMONY SOMETIME THIS SUMMER.
FIRST, NEVER THOUGHT I WOULD SEE IT
FOR SCOTLANDVILLE, WE RECEIVED THE PHASE ONE, UH, CONSTRUCTION DOCUMENTS AT THE END OF MARCH.
I'VE COMPLETED A REVIEW OF THE FLOOR PLANS AND I'M FINISHING UP THE SPECIFICATION REVIEW.
UH, ARCHITECTURAL SERVICES DID GIVE US, UH, A FORMAL SCHEDULE FOR THAT, UH, BY APRIL 24TH.
WE NEED TO SEND THE, OUR COMMENTS AND ARCHITECTURAL SERVICES COMMENTS WILL GO TO THE, UM, THE ARCHITECT AND MAY 8TH, WE'LL RECEIVE THE FINAL CONSTRUCTION DOCUMENTS FROM THE ARCHITECTS.
[01:05:01]
MAY 26TH, AND MAY.UH, AND, AND JUNE 2ND WILL BE THE ADVERTISING DATES.
AND THERE'S A PRE-BID CONFERENCE ON, UM, MAY 30TH, AND THEN THE TENTATIVE BID OPENING WILL BE JUNE 15TH.
SO PROBABLY, PROBABLY AUGUST, EARLY AUGUST, MAYBE FOR A BREAKING GROUND ON THAT.
AND THAT'S GONNA BE JUST THE ARCHIVES.
SO THAT'S PRETTY MUCH ALL I'VE GOT TO REPORT.
ANY QUESTIONS? A LOT OF GOOD NEWS THERE.
UH, IS THERE, UH, THERE'S NO COMMENT BY THE BOARD.
UH, IS THERE ANY PUBLIC COMMENT ON ANY OF THE ITEMS UNDER ROMAN NUMERAL SIX ON THE AGENDA? UNFINISHED BUSINESS, SEEING NONE.
NEW BUSINESS DISCUSSION OF OBTAINING NON-PROFIT LIABILITY INSURANCE FOR BOARD MEMBERS.
UM, THIS TOPIC CAME UP ACTUALLY ON ANOTHER BOARD THAT I SIT ON, ON THE BOTANICAL BOARD, UH, BOTANICAL BOARD, UH, UH, MEAT, UM, THAT I SIT ON RIGHT HERE FOR THE BOTANICAL GARDENS.
AND THEY WERE TALKING ABOUT INSURANCE ALSO.
SO IT GOT ME THINKING ABOUT THE LIBRARY, AND SOMEHOW IN MY MIND, I ALWAYS THOUGHT WE HAD INSURANCE FOR THIS, BUT I HAD A CONVERSATION WITH SPENCER, AND SPENCER AT THE TIME TOLD ME IT WAS A LITTLE PROHIBITIVELY EXPENSIVE.
HE DIDN'T FEEL LIKE IT WAS WORTH IT.
UM, BUT I WANTED, UH, KRISTEN TO GET SOME INFORMATION ON IT TO, TO SEE IF, UM, IT WOULD BE SOMETHING THAT THE BOARD WOULD BE INTERESTED IN PUTTING INTO THE UPCOMING BUDGET.
AND I, YOU KNOW, I JUST THOUGHT IT WOULD BE A GOOD TIME TO, TO KIND OF TALK ABOUT THIS SUBJECT.
SO, UM, KRISTEN, DO YOU HAVE, WHAT INFORMATION HAVE YOU BEEN ABLE TO GET AS FAR AS PRICES? UM, SO WE HAVE ONE QUOTE THAT WE JUST GOT TODAY.
I, I DON'T THINK IT IS PROHIBITIVELY EXPENSIVE.
IT'S PROBABLY MORE EXPENSIVE THAN, UM, YOU KNOW, SPENCER INITIALLY THOUGHT, BUT IT IS BASED OFF OF OUR OPERATING BUDGET.
SO SINCE WE PAY FOR EVERYTHING THAT WE DO, WE HAVE A, YOU KNOW, LARGER OPERATING BUDGET THAN OTHER, YOU KNOW, LIBRARY SYSTEMS WHERE THEIR, THEIR PARENT GOVERNMENT COVERS THINGS.
AND SO THEY DON'T ACTUALLY HAVE TO PUT THAT NECESSARILY WITHIN THE APPLICATION THAT RHONDA FILLED OUT TO GET THE QUOTE.
SO, UM, AND IN MY CONVERSATION WITH THE DEPUTY STATE LIBRARIAN, MOST OF THE SMALLER PARISHES AND THEIR LIBRARY BOARDS DO HAVE INSURANCE.
SHE WAS A LITTLE SURPRISED TO HEAR THAT.
WE DID NOT, AND SHE CERTAINLY, UM, RECOMMENDS THAT Y'ALL DO.
SO, UM, THE QUOTE THAT WE HAVE HERE, AND WE'RE GONNA TRY AND, UH, ATTEMPT TO GET ANOTHER QUOTE IS, UM, ABOUT $17,000 SOUNDS FOR THE WHOLE BOARD.
AND THAT'S WITH, UH, A MILLION DOLLAR LIMIT AND 25,000 DEDUCTIBLE.
YEAH, A $0 DEDUCTIBLE FOR ONE AND 25 FOR THE OTHER TWO AGREEMENTS.
SO WE JUST GOT THIS TODAY, SO WE HAVEN'T HAD A WHOLE WHOLE LOT OF TIME TO, TO DIG INTO IT, BUT, UM, IT COVERS, I WOULD THINK THAT WE MIGHT ASK IF THE OTHER, UH, BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS OF, UH, IN THIS CITY PARISH OR LIKE BRICK OR THE AIRPORT COMMISSION OR OTHER BOARDS HAVE, UH, WHAT THEY CALL DIRECT D O INSURANCE.
THE CIVIC ASSOCIATION I SENT ON ALSO HAS, UM, D UH, D O INSURANCE.
WE, WE PURCHASE THAT, YOU KNOW, EVERY YEAR.
SO YEAH, THOSE OF US WHO ARE ON OTHER BOARDS OFTEN, UM, HAVE THAT TYPE OF INSURANCE.
AND I THINK THAT'S WHAT, UM, YOU KNOW, YOU'RE REFERRING TO.
BUT OTHER, YOU SEE WHAT OTHER BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS LIKE THE BRECK BOARD OR ANY OF THOSE, UM, UH, OTHER BOARDS AND, AND WE, WE CAN CERTAINLY, WE CAN CERTAINLY CHECK, AND THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT WE ASKED FOR WAS D AND O INSURANCE.
THAT'S THE QUOTE THAT WE RECEIVED.
AND IF, UH, MOST OTHER LIBRARY BOARDS IN THE STATE ALREADY HAVE IT, UM, AGAIN, I'M HAPPY TO ASK ABOUT BRACKEN AND THOSE OTHER, UM, ENTITIES.
UM, I BELIEVE I REACHED OUT TO
[01:10:01]
BRAF, BUT I DON'T REMEMBER IF I HEARD BACK WHETHER OR NOT THEY RECOMMEND VIA, I DID HEAR BACK, I WOULD HAVE TO GO BACK AND CHECK, BUT, UM, I KNOW THAT I HAD ASKED SOMEONE AT BRAF IF THAT IS A RECOMMENDATION THAT THEY DO FOR ALL OF THE NONPROFITS THAT, UM, THEY WORK WITH.SO IT, IT DOES SEEM PRETTY STANDARD.
WELL, IT, IT'S DIFFERENT BEING A, A, A GOVERNMENT ENTITY AS OPPOSED TO A, A PRIVATE ORGANIZATION.
AND THEY'RE, THEY'RE, UM, AND, AND I DON'T KNOW THE LIABILITY FOR, UM, YOU KNOW, UM, PEOPLE ON VARIOUS BOARDS AT COMMISSIONS THROUGH THE CITY PARISH OR THROUGH THE, UM, YOU KNOW, THROUGH OTHER LOCAL GOVERNMENT, UH, HOW THAT WOULD, WOULD, UH, WORK WITHOUT LOOKING INTO ASKING THIS, THE CITY PARISH ATTORNEY, UH, WELL, THEY'RE THE ONES THAT GAVE US THE RECOMMENDATION OF THE COMPANY THAT WE HAVE.
I I JUST WANTED TO KIND OF BRING THIS TOPIC UP.
UH, I DIDN'T KNOW IF Y'ALL WERE AWARE.
SO I WAS CURIOUS TO GET Y'ALL'S INPUT ON THIS AND, AND YOUR THOUGHTS IF THAT'S SOMETHING WE FEEL LIKE GOING FORWARD.
UM, WOULD Y'ALL WANT US TO GET, YOU KNOW, TO PUT IT IN THE BUDGET, I'D LIKE TO CONSIDER OUR MOVE THAT WE MOVE FORWARD WITH TRYING TO PUT THAT IN PLACE AS I EVERYBODY COME IN AGREEMENT WITH THAT? OR JUST WILL THEY HAVE A DIFFERENT OPINION OR, YEAH, I'M TAKING MORE INFORMATION FOR SURE.
ESPECIALLY SINCE THE PARISH ATTORNEY GAVE US THE NAME OF THE INSURANCE COMPANY.
UH, WE MUST NOT HAVE COVERAGE BY THE PARISH ATTORNEY'S OFFICE.
NO, BECAUSE WE'RE, WE'RE SELF-INSURED, SO, WELL, I, I, I, I THINK, I THINK THAT THE CONSENSUS IS, IS THAT, UH, GET, YOU KNOW, WHATEVER ADDITIONAL INFORMATION, UM, THAT YOU CAN GET, BUT I, I, I, I THINK THAT'S SOMETHING THAT WE SHOULD GO AHEAD AND PLAN FOR AND WHATEVER THAT PRICE IS THAT TO BE INCLUDED IN THE, UH, IN THE UPCOMING BUDGET DISCUSSION.
IS THERE ANY OTHER COMMENT ON THIS TOPIC? OKAY, SEEING NONE DISCUSSION OF SUGGESTED LIBRARY BOARD RESOLUTION, I, I THINK EVERYBODY HAS A COPY OF THIS, UH, ON THEIR, IN THEIR PACKET.
UH, I BELIEVE THIS IS, UH, IN, IN REFERENCE TO SOME OF THE, UH, LEGISLATION THAT'S BEEN FILED FOR THIS UPCOMING SESSION.
AND OUR, UH, I GUESS OUR RESPONSE, UH, IN OUR POSITION ON, ON THIS.
SO YES, DO YOU WANT TO TALK ABOUT WHAT YOU GAVE US AND SURE.
SO, UM, THESE RESOLUTIONS WERE SUGGESTED, UM, THROUGH A LUNCHE AND LEARN AT, FROM THE LOUISIANA LIBRARY ASSOCIATION PUT TOGETHER A FEW WEEKS AGO.
UM, THE ACTUAL RESOLUTION WAS DRAFTED BY THE LINCOLN PARISH LIBRARY BOARD OF CONTROL.
AND, UM, MR. JONES, I CAN'T REMEMBER HIS FIRST NAME.
UH, HE WAS A FORMER LEGISLATURE.
AND SO, UM, HE TOOK IT UPON HIMSELF TO, TO, UM, CRAFT THIS ALONG WITH HIS FELLOW BOARD MEMBERS AS A WAY TO, UM, SAY WE OPPOSE THE BILLS AS THEY ARE WRITTEN, BUT WE CAN SUPPORT IF THEY ARE ADJUSTED TO REFLECT, UM, THESE, THESE CHANGES.
UM, AND IN WHAT I HAVE, UH, DONE SO FAR TO, TO LOOK INTO THEM, UM, THERE ARE SEVERAL OTHER LIBRARY BOARDS OF CONTROL, ESPECIALLY IN THE NORTHERN PARISHES THAT HAVE, UM, SIGNED AND SENT THIS ON TO THEIR LEGISLATORS.
SO, UM, IT IS AN OPTION OF, OF SOMETHING THAT YOU ALL CAN DO AS A GOVERNING BODY, UM, AND THEN VERSUS JUST AS A, AN INDIVIDUAL, UM, YOU COULD ALSO, IF, IF, IF ANY OF THE CONSTITUENTS
[01:15:01]
ASKED YOU WHAT YOU WERE DOING, YOU COULD STATE THAT, YOU KNOW, WE SIGNED THIS RESOLUTION, UM, AS A BOARD AND, AND SENT IT OFF.AND YOU CAN ALSO, YOU KNOW, SHARE WITH THEM THE RESOURCES THAT, UM, I SENT TO YOU ABOUT, YOU KNOW, IF YOU'RE REALLY CONCERNED, CONTACT YOUR LEGISLATURE.
THIS IS HOW YOU FIND OUT WHO YOUR LEGISLATOR IS.
YOU KNOW, WRITING AND CALLING ACTUALLY DO MAKE A DIFFERENCE.
UM, SIGNING, YOU KNOW, DIFFERENT PETITIONS AS AN INDIVIDUAL CONSTITUENT, UM, GIVING, YOU KNOW, JUST SO THAT YOU HAVE THAT INFORMATION THAT YOU CAN PASS THAT ON TO ANYONE WHO KNOWS YOU'RE A LIBRARY BOARD OF CONTROL MEMBER AND IS CONCERNED ABOUT THE LEGISLATION THAT IS HAPPENING.
SO THESE ARE SAMPLE, PRETTY MUCH SAMPLE LETTERS? YES.
UM, AND, AND, AND WE ARE TO KIND OF LIKE, IF THERE'S ANY SUGGESTIONS THAT YOU HAVE, UM, OF TWEAKING IT, WE CAN TWEAK IT OR IT CAN JUST BE INSERTING THE NAME OF EAST BATON ROUGE PARISH LIBRARY BOARD OF CONTROL.
AND THEN, UM, IF YOU SO MOVE TO DO THAT, THEN YOU COULD SIGN AND WE WOULD SEND ON TO OUR REPRESENTATIVES, YOU KNOW, AND THEY DID, YOU KNOW, WORK TOGETHER WITH THEIR KNOWLEDGE OF LIBRARIES WHEN THEY WERE CRAFTING THE RESOLUTION, AND, UM, TRYING TO MAKE IT SO THAT IT WOULD BE LESS IMPACTFUL FOR ALL THE LIBRARIES ACROSS THE STATE.
UM, THOUGH WE MEET A LOT OF THE REQUIREMENTS THAT ARE ALREADY SET FORTH IN THE BILLS WITH OUR TIERED CARD, LIBRARY CARD, YOU KNOW, SYSTEM.
WE'RE THE LARGEST LIBRARY SYSTEM IN THE STATE AND THE MOST WELL FUNDED.
SO OUR SITUATION IS DIFFERENT THAN THE SMALL SINGLE, UM, LIBRARY BUILDING IN ONE OF OUR, UM, MORE RURAL PARISHES.
UM, SO THESE THINGS WILL IMPACT THEM MORE THAN THEY WOULD US, AND THAT WAS KIND OF THEIR WHOLE, UM, POINT, WAS TRYING TO LESSEN THE IMPACT ON ALL THESE LIBRARIES ACROSS THE STATE.
NOW, HOW MANY OTHER LIBRARIES HAVE SIGNED ONTO THE RESOLUTION? NO, NO, SHE DIDN'T HAVE AN EXACT NUMBER FOR ME.
I COULD GET THAT, BUT HAVE THEY BEEN, I MEAN, KATHY, YOU, YOU MAY BE MORE, I'VE GONE.
ARE THEY, WHEN ARE THEY SCHEDULED TO BE HEARD? UM, I DON'T, I, I'VE BEEN WATCHING THE SCHEDULE AND THEY, I MEAN, THIS IS A FISCAL SESSION, SO THEY'RE TRYING TO DEAL WITH, WITH FISCAL ISSUES ALSO.
SO I DON'T KNOW WHEN THE MORE CONTROVERSIAL, UM, ISSUES WILL COME UP.
I HAVE READ THE LEGISLATION AND COMPARED IT WITH THE, UM, WITH WHAT, UH, MR. JONES WANTS TO DO, AND IT CERTAINLY IS, UH, WHAT HE IS DOING IS TAKING OUT, UM, A LANGUAGE THAT, UM, THAT WAS PUT IN THE LEGISLATION.
AND AS SOMEONE WHO HAS WORKED, ENJOYED, LOVED THE LIBRARY ALL MY LIFE, I, I FIND THE, THE LEGISLATURE, THE LEGISLATION, UM, OFFENSIVE PERSONALLY.
BUT WHAT HE DOES IS, UH, HE MAKES THE, THE BILLS PERFECTLY ACCEPTABLE.
NOW, EAST BATON ROUGE PARISH IS DIFFERENT.
UM, THE, UH, IN THAT WE ALREADY HAVE IN PLACE, UM, UH, DIFFERENT CATEGORIES ABOUT WHO CAN CHECK OUT WHAT WE HAVE AGE APPROPRIATE, UM, CARDS.
WE HAVE AGE APPROPRIATE FOR CHILDREN, FOR TWEENS AND FOR OLDER TEENAGERS.
AND, UM, AND, YOU KNOW, AND THE IMPLICATION THAT SOMEHOW THE, THE, THE, THE LIBRARIES HAVE, UM, HAVE PUT OUT STUFF THAT IS INAPPROPRIATE AND STUFF IS JUST SIMPLY WRONG.
AND, AND, UM, SO I PERSONALLY WILL, UM, OPPOSE THIS LEGISLATION, BUT WHAT MR. JONES HAS DONE IS, IS FINE.
I'VE READ THROUGH ALL THE, UM, THE BILL AND WHAT HE HAS,
[01:20:01]
UM, TAKEN OUT OF IT AND WHAT HE'S PUT BACK INTO IT.IN FACT, I THINK THAT EAST BATON ROUGE PARISH CAN BE A TEMPLATE FOR WHAT OTHER LIBRARIES WANT TO DO, SINCE WE HAVE ALREADY ESTABLISHED CARDS WITH AGE APPROPRIATE, UM, UH, CHECKOUTS PARENTS ALREADY HAVE, UH, THE AVAILABILITY TO SEE WHAT THEIR CHILDREN HAVE CHECKED OUT SINCE THEY'RE RESPONSIBLE, UH, FOR THOSE, THE CHILDREN.
UM, AND THE ACTUAL LANGUAGE OF THE, THE LEGISLATION ITSELF IS SO, UM, UH, BROAD AND ALL ENCOMPASSING THAT YOU WOULD PROBABLY, UM, PROHIBIT BOOKS ON FOR NURSING MOTHERS OR IT, IT IS, UM, THAT, UH, SPECIFIC IN CERTAIN AREAS AND THAT IT APPLIES TO ALL MINORS.
SO THAT'S ANYONE UNDER SEVEN 17 AND UNDER.
AND WE CERTAINLY KNOW THAT A BOOK THAT MAY BE APPLICABLE FOR A, UH, UH, YOU KNOW, A 16 YEAR OLD IS NOT THE SAME BOOK THAT A SIX YEAR OLD IS GOING TO BE UP TO LOOK AT.
AND WE SERVE A WHOLE, WE'RE THE LARGEST LIBRARY SYSTEM IN THE, THE STATE AS BY POPULATION.
OUR VISION STATEMENT SAYS WHAT WE DO AND HOW WE DO IT, AND WE ARE VERY RESPONSIBLE TO THE COMMUNITY.
I DON'T KNOW IF YOU ACTUALLY WANT TO, TO VOTE ON THIS, UH, TO MAKE, YOU KNOW, TO VOTE ON THIS RESOLUTION.
BUT, UM, WHAT HE HAS DONE WITH THE BILLS, I THINK IS FINE, BUT BILLS CHANGE, THEY DO.
AND IF, IF THEY CAN BE, THEY AMENDED AT IN COMMITTEE, THEY CAN BE AMENDED ON THE FLOOR, THEY CAN, THEY CAN CHANGE.
SO THAT, UM, I ASSUME YOU WILL HAVE THE, UM, THE LIBRARY ASSOCIATION, UH, LOOKING AT THESE, UH, BILLS.
YOU WILL HAVE CERTAIN PARTS OF THE COMMUNITY THAT ARE PRO AND CON.
BUT, UM, THE, UH, I WOULD HOPE THAT INSTEAD OF THIS TYPE OF LEGISLATION THAT PROBABLY MAYBE A, A TASK FORCE OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT CAN BE, UH, FORMED AND THIS, THESE, THESE THREE PIECES OF LEGISLATION CAN JUST BE, CAN, UM, YOU KNOW, NOT BE MOVED FORWARD.
AND THAT THE, THE TEMPLATE FOR EAST BATON ROUGE PARISH COULD BE USED FOR THE WHOLE STATE BECAUSE IT'S REALLY A, A FIRST RATE, UM, SYSTEM.
SO, UM, THAT WOULD BE MY LEGISLATIVE SUGGESTION IS THAT TO, UH, PEOPLE WHO HAVE REAL CONCERNS, MAYBE, UH, THAT SOMEONE MAY FORM A, A TASK FORCE TO STUDY THIS AND HAVE A REAL UNDERSTANDING ABOUT WHAT GOES ON IN A LIBRARY.
SO LIKE, PROBABLY MAYBE CONVERT THIS TO A, A RESOLUTION AND, AND PRODUCE A STUDY GROUP, AND THEN THEY'LL COME BACK NEXT YEAR WITH A, A REPORT TYPE OF DEAL.
SOMETHING LIKE THAT, RATHER THAN PASSING THIS TYPE OF, UH, THIS TYPE OF LEGISLATION.
BECAUSE THERE'S ALSO ANOTHER PIECE OF LEGISLATION THAT WOULD PERHAPS POLITICIZE THE, THE LIBRARY BOARD, SO THAT YEAH, YOU HAVE, YOU HAVE, THAT'S, THAT'S A, I I'M CURIOUS BECAUSE I DO KNOW, I MEAN, I SEE THREE DIFFERENT BILLS, AND I'M, I'M CURIOUS IF, IF THERE ARE, YOU KNOW, IF, IF ONE OR TWO OF THESE BILLS, YOU KNOW, SAY HAVE MORE GENERAL SUPPORT THAN SAY ANOTHER ONE DOES, OR THEY'RE KIND OF ALL EQUALLY, TWO, TWO OF THEM ARE ALMOST IDENTICAL AND THEY DEAL WITH, UH, SEXUALLY EXPLICIT, UH, MATERIAL.
AND IT IS, THE BILL ITSELF, IN MY OPINION, IS VERY GRAPHIC, MORE GRAPHIC THAN ANYTHING I'VE EVER SEEN IN A LIBRARY.
UH, AND IT'S, SO, UM, AND THEN THE THIRD BILL WILL SIMPLY MAKE IT, UH, IT POLITICIZES THE MAKEUP OF THE, UM, OF THE LIBRARY BOARD.
SO, UH, THIS BOARD, WE HAVE, WE HAVE, UM, BUSINESSMEN, WE HAVE LAW
[01:25:01]
ENFORCEMENT, WE HAVE A REALTOR, WE HAVE A PARLIAMENTARIAN, WE HAVE EDUCATORS, UM, WE HAVE PEOPLE WHO'VE WORKED IN GOVERNMENT.WE HAVE A WHOLE COMMUNITY OF PEOPLE THAT CAN MAKE GOOD DECISIONS.
AND OF COURSE, WE ARE SUBJECT TO THE, WE ARE ALREADY SUBJECT TO THE METRO COUNCIL.
SO I DON'T SEE THE NECESSITY OF POLITICIZING, UM, UH, A BOARD, UH, AND DOING THAT, YOU KNOW, AND DOING THAT.
SO I WOULD CERTAINLY, UM, I THINK THESE, THESE BILLS AS WRITTEN, UH, I WOULD NOT SUPPORT AT ALL.
AND, BUT FOR PEOPLE WHO HAVE REALLY CONCERNS AND STUFF, MY RECOMMENDATION WOULD PROBABLY BE TO, TO HAVE A STUDY TASK FORCE ON THIS, AND TO LOOK AT WAYS THAT THE EAST BATON ROUGE PARISH LIBRARY USES ITS, ITS SYSTEM, BECAUSE I THINK IT, IT WILL DO AWAY WITH ANY, UM, ANY FEARS THAT PEOPLE HAVE BEEN LED TO, UH, TO HAVE, YOU KNOW, BY THIS SITUATION.
SO DO YOU, DO YOU, DO YOU THINK THESE RESOLUTIONS ARE, DO ARE, ARE YOU SAYING WE NEED TO GO AHEAD AND, AND, AND GO AHEAD AND GET THESE RESOLUTIONS FINALIZED AND, AND SUBMIT 'EM? OR, OR NO, I MEAN, KIND OF WHAT'S YOUR, YOUR FEEL ON THAT? CAN I, UH, I THINK, CAN I QUICKLY, KRISTEN, ONE THING, WHEN I WAS TALKING WITH THE DEPUTY STATE LIBRARIAN, THEY DID LOOK AT EBR R'S STRUCTURE WHEN PUTTING TOGETHER SENATE BILL SEVEN, WHICH IS WHY IT HAS A LOT OF THAT STUFF THAT WE ALREADY MEET IN IT.
UM, I'M SORRY, I'M, I'M HAVING TROUBLE HEARING YOU IF YOU COULD.
I SAID THAT THE, UM, THEY DID LOOK AT EBR R STRUCTURE, UHHUH
SO THEY HAVE ALREADY KIND OF LOOKED AT WHAT IS EXISTING HERE AND IN OTHER LIBRARIES ACROSS THE STATE.
SO, UM, JUST JUST WANTED TO PASS THAT ON, THAT THEY, THAT AS THEY WERE PUTTING TOGETHER THESE BILLS, THEY HAVE ALREADY LOOKED AT THE STRUCTURES OF EBR R AND OTHER LIBRARIES ACROSS THE STATE THAT INFORMED WHAT THEY PUT TOGETHER.
SO, UM, THE RESOLUTION HERE JUST KIND OF WOULD CLARIFY SOME OF, SOME OF THE MORE AMBIGUOUS POINTS, UM, AND MAKE THEM A LITTLE BIT MORE PALATABLE, I GUESS YOU COULD SAY.
I, I'M, I'M KIND OF, I JUST WANTED TO, I WANTED TO BRING THAT UP.
SINCE KATHY, YOU HAD SAID MAYBE THAT EBR COULD BE A TEMPLATE FOR OTHER LIBRARIES.
WELL, THEY KIND OF ALREADY HAVE THAT IN.
UM, THEY'VE ALREADY KIND OF DONE THAT WITHIN THESE MARY, PATRICIA, UM, WHAT DO Y'ALL THINK ABOUT THIS? AND Y'ALL THINK THIS IS GOOD FOR US TO MOVE THIS FORWARD? OR DOES IT PUT US IN A SITUATION THAT Y'ALL WOULD NOT RATHER BE IN? AND KRISTEN, I'M SORRY.
SO I GUESS THE QUESTION IS FIRST, DO YOU KNOW ARM? YES.
UM,
THAT, I MEAN, THAT'S THE RISK YOU RUN SOMETIMES BY DOING THESE THINGS.
I HAVEN'T HAD A CHANCE TO SPEAK WITH A MEMBER OF OUR DELEGATION.
SO I HAVE SPOKEN WITH A PREVIOUS MEMBER OF OUR DELEGATION.
HE'S VERY MUCH AGAINST US, UM, AGAINST SIGNING THIS, UH, AGAINST THE BILLS.
SO THE QUESTION IS, IF A BILL'S GONNA GET PASSED, AT LEAST FIX, YOU KNOW, TWEAK IT A LITTLE BIT THAT THAT'S ONE, ONE, UH, PHILOSOPHY.
AND THE OTHER PHILOSOPHY IS DRAW THE LINE IN THE SAND AND TRY TO GET IT NOT PASSED.
SO THERE IS NO FORMAL LOBBYISTS FOR THE LOUISIANA LIBRARY ASSOCIATION AT THIS TIME.
[01:30:01]
SO WE, AS LIBRARIANS, WE DON'T HAVE ANYBODY OUT THERE WATCHING AND TALKING TO PEOPLE TO GET THEIR SENSE OF IT.AND AS KATHY SAID, IT'S A FISCAL SESSION.
THAT'S WHERE THEIR FOCUS, QUITE RIGHTLY SHOULD BE.
UM, I'M SURPRISED THIS WAS EVEN WAS EVEN FILED THIS YEAR.
MY, WE PROBABLY SHOULDN'T DO THIS, BUT I, I KNOW THAT Y'ALL ARE PROBABLY GONNA GET THE BRUNT OF IT IF WE DO.
SO THAT'S WHY I'M ASKING Y'ALL'S OPINIONS.
UM, AND, AND TO COMPLICATE MATTERS, IT'S A VERY SHORT SESSION.
SO IF YOU'RE GONNA PRESENT IT, YOU KIND OF NEED TO PRESENT IT SOON.
I DON'T KNOW THAT YOU CAN WAIT UNTIL THE END OF, TO THE MIDDLE OF JUNE AND PRESENT IT.
UM, NO, THIS SESSION ENDS IN JUNE SIX.
SO, UH, I'M SORRY, MAY YEAH, YOU MEANT MAY PUTTING OUT, UM, PART OF THE REASON THEY WORDED IT THIS WAY WAS TO, TO NOT STATE OUTRIGHT OPPOSITION, BUT TO, BUT TO SAY THAT THERE, THERE ARE CERTAIN THINGS THAT IF THEY WERE TWEAKED AND IF THEY WERE REVISED, THAT TO SHOW THAT WE'RE WILLING TO MIKE YEAH.
UM, WHICH IS A, I I IMAGINE THE STATE LIBRARY THAT WILL PROBABLY GAUGE IN THOSE CONVERSATIONS THAT CHANGED TO HO AND HOPEFULLY MAYBE AMEND SOME OF THAT LANGUAGE, MAYBE, MAYBE NOT GOOD SUCCESS AT THE LEGISLATURE THE LAST COUPLE OF DECADES.
THE LORDS, I MEAN, DOES ANYBODY ELSE HAVE ANY COMMENT? I MEAN, I WAS GOING TO SAY, I'M IN AGREEMENT TO WHAT YOU SPOKE OF, UM, EARLIER, JASON, THAT, UH, YOU SAID SOMETHING RE IN REFERENCE, UH, TO PUTTING A COMMITTEE TOGETHER.
WELL, NO, I, I, I THINK WHAT I WAS SAYING IS, IS THE, THE HOPE IS, AND, AND I'M JUST KIND OF GOING BACK ON MY TIME INVOLVED WITH STATE LEGISLATURE AND MM-HMM.
THEY WILL PUT TOGETHER A REPORT, AND THEY'LL BE REQUIRED AT THE NEXT SESSION TO COME AND PRESENT THOSE FINDINGS.
AND THERE COME UP WITH A, A, A, A VEHICLE TO, TO ACCOMPLISH WHAT THEY WANT TO ACCOMPLISH.
BUT IT'S A WAY OF KIND OF GATHERING INFORMATION AND, AND, AND HOPEFULLY COOLER HEADS PREVAIL AND A LITTLE COMMON SENSE KICKS IN.
AND, UM, AND MAYBE YOU COME UP WITH SOMETHING THAT'S, UH, YOU KNOW, UH, PALATABLE FOR EVERYONE.
AND, UH, THE PROBLEM IS WITH, WITH THESE KIND OF THINGS, I MEAN, WE ARE OPERATING IN THE BUBBLE OF EAST BATON ROUGE PARISH LIBRARY SYSTEM.
THERE, THERE ARE A LOT OF PROBABLY LIBRARY SYSTEMS THROUGHOUT THE STATE THAT JUST DO NOT HAVE THE PROTOCOLS AND POLICIES AND PROCEDURES AND ALL THOSE THINGS THAT I THINK A MORE, YOU KNOW, ROBUST SYSTEM NATURALLY HAS MM-HMM.
AND I THINK THIS IS PROBABLY A WAY, EVEN THOUGH I THINK A BIT MISGUIDED OF TRYING TO, AS A SHOTGUN APPROACH, UH, OF TRYING TO SOLVE A PROBLEM.
AND, UM, UNFORTUNATELY IT HURTS EVERYBODY IN, IN DOING IT.
SO, UM, I MEAN, WHAT WE HAVE NOW IN FRONT OF US IS WHAT WE AS A SYSTEM DO, WE WANNA WADE OFF INTO THESE WATERS.
AND THAT'S WHERE I THINK DON WAS SAYING TO MARY AND PATRICIA AND KRISTEN, DO WE WANT TO GO THERE? DO WE WANT TO PUT OURSELVES OUT THERE? AND THAT'S THE QUESTION WE HAVE TO ASK OURSELVES DOWN, DO WE WANT TO GET INTO THE POLITICAL GANG BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT WE'RE GONNA DO IF WE DO THIS? OR IS THE GAME ALREADY HERE? AND IT MAY BE, YEAH, BECAUSE, UM, MY QUESTION WOULD BE THE, THE, SO HOW MUCH, HOW, HOW, UM, WHEN SOMETHING GETS CONVERTED FROM A BILL TO A, LIKE A RESOLUTION OR, AND THEY, THEY CALL 'EM A STUDY RESOLUTION.
SO WHAT PRECIPITATES THAT? IS IT A BUNCH OF PEOPLE SUBMITTING THINGS LIKE THIS RESOLUTION THAT SAYS, THAT'S EXACTLY, WE CANNOT, WE CANNOT STAND FOR THESE AS A WRITTEN AND DO.
AND UNFORTUNATELY WE DON'T KNOW.
DO WE HAVE ENOUGH OUTCRY THAT IS NO, WE DON'T WANT 'EM AT ALL.
UM, YES, WE COULD DO IT, BUT WE HAVE TO DO IT THIS WAY.
SO, UM, I MEAN, WE, WE OBVIOUSLY KNOW
[01:35:01]
THAT THERE ARE SOME LIBRARY BOARDS THAT ARE DOING IT, BUT HOW MUCH OUTCRY HAS HAPPENED? SO DO WE FEEL COMFORTABLE TAKING BATHS, STEPPING BACK AND, AND LETTING IT LIE? OR DO YOU WANT TO THROW INTO THE RING TO HOPEFULLY HAVE IT BE TURNED INTO A RESOLUTION INSTEAD OF A LAW AND HAVE, UM, MORE TIME TO REALLY LOOK AT WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE IN THE LEGISLATURE? FOR US, I THINK THIS IS A SOLUTION LOOKING FOR A PROBLEM.UH, I DON'T KNOW THAT THAT NEEDS TO HAPPEN AT THE LEGISLATURE.
UH, AND, UH, I, I, LIKE I SAID, TEND TO THINK THAT THAT, UM, I DON'T THINK THAT WE NEED TO ADDRESS IT WITH THIS, UH, DOCUMENT AT THIS TIME.
UM, WHEN YOU READ THE ACTUAL LEGISLATION, IT IS, UH, FOR, UH, SPECIFIC SEXUALLY EXPLICIT MATERIAL.
IT DOESN'T, UH, ACT UPON GRAPHIC VIOLENCE.
IT DOESN'T ACT, YOU KNOW, IT DOESN'T TALK ABOUT ANYTHING ELSE EXCEPT SEXUALLY EXPLICIT.
AND THEN IT PROCEEDS TO OUTLINE EVERYTHING THAT YOU COULD POSSIBLY THINK OF, UM, THAT I WOULD, WOULD NOT EVEN READ THIS, READ THE LEGISLATION OUT LOUD IN THE LEGISLATURE MM-HMM.
OF THE, UH, EXPLICIT, EXPLICIT NATURE OF THE, UM, OF THE LEGISLATION.
SO AT THIS POINT, UM, IT, YOU KNOW, I GUESS WE CAN JUST WATCH AND SEE WHAT HAPPENS.
I I, I DON'T KNOW IF THAT'S WHAT WE DECIDE TO DO.
UM, JUST, I MEAN, DON IS ABSOLUTELY RIGHT.
IT IS A, UM, IT IS A SOLUTION LOOKING FOR A PROBLEM MM-HMM.
AND TO HAVE THE IMPLICATION THAT IT'S NOT, TO ME, IS VERY, VERY OFFENSIVE.
AND IF WE, IF WE WERE TO, UM, FOLLOW WHAT YOU JUST MENTIONED IN REGARDS TO WAIT TO SEE WHAT HAPPENS, WHAT WOULD BE THE WORST CASE SCENARIO FROM, FROM THAT WAIT AND SEE ATTITUDE? WELL, NO ONE'S SAFE FOR THE LEGISLATURE'S MEETING, HUH? IF IT PASSED LIKE IT IS, UM, AND, UM, THAT IT WOULD CHANGE.
IT'S SO BROAD THAT YOU WOULD PROBABLY BE LOOKING THROUGH EVERY SINGLE BOOK IN THE LIBRARY.
IT'S FOR, YOU KNOW, EVERY SINGLE ROMANCE NOVEL OR WELL, OR ADVENTURE NOVEL OR WHATEVER.
IT'S, IT'S, IT'S, UH, IT'S, IT'S UNENFORCEABLE TO TELL YOU THE TRUTH.
SO, UM, ONE PERSPECTIVE IS BECAUSE OF THE FACT THAT WE ARE THE LARGEST, UM, LIBRARY SYSTEM, UM, PARISH SYSTEM IN THE STATE, AND BECAUSE WE ARE A LEADER IN HOW WE OPERATE, UM, TO SIT BACK AND WATCH OFFENSIVE, UH, TO SIT BACK AND WATCH THIS TYPE OF LEGISLATION, WHICH MAY NOT NECESSARILY AFFECT US TO THE SAME DEGREE AS IT WOULD OTHER LIBRARY SYSTEMS AND SAY, WELL, YOU KNOW, WE ARE, WE ARE OKAY FOR THE MOST PART, SO LET'S, LET'S NOT BE BOTHERED WITH IT.
[01:40:01]
YOU KNOW, PROTECTING, YOU KNOW, OR WATCHING OUT FOR OUR, OUR OWN HIDE.BUT IF IN THE WORST CASE SCENARIO, SOMETHING LIKE THIS PASSES THAT WOULD GIVE LICENSE TO PASS EVEN FURTHER LEGISLATION THAT EVENTUALLY COULD AFFECT US, UM, BECAUSE WE WERE COMPLICIT OR TACIT IN, IN, IN OUR, OUR APPROVAL OF IT BY NOT TAKING A POSITION, MAYBE NOT AN OPPOSITION, BUT A POSITION.
UM, AND THEN THE OTHER PERSPECTIVE IS THAT WE KNOW THAT THERE HAVE BEEN PROBABLY A, A, A, A GROUP, A VERY VOCAL, BUT MAYBE NOT NECESSARILY LARGE GROUP, BUT VERY VOCAL GROUP THAT'S BEEN WORKING THEIR WAY THROUGH LIBRARY SYSTEMS THROUGHOUT THE STATE IN A WAY THAT HAS BEEN QUITE DIVISIVE.
AND THIS IS PROBABLY THE RESULT OF THAT.
AND SO I, I THINK IT, IT MAKES SENSE TO FIND OUT WHAT, WHAT IS THE OUTCRY, BUT AT THE SAME TIME, UM, WE KNOW THAT THE BILL AS IT IS, IS JUST NOT SOMETHING THAT, THAT NECESSARILY WE COULD SUPPORT.
SO OFFERING SOMETHING A CONCESSION THAT SAYS, HEY, WE ARE OPEN, WE'RE, WE'RE WILLING TO, TO, YOU KNOW, UNDERSTAND YOUR PERSPECTIVE, BUT, YOU KNOW, WE'D LIKE YOU TO BE OPEN TO ALTERNATIVES, I THINK IS, IS A, A GOOD POSITION TO TAKE.
UM, RATHER THAN SAYING, YOU KNOW, HEY, WE WE'RE OKAY, UM, LET THIS GO AND SEE, AND THEN, YOU KNOW, THE FALLOUT FROM THERE, BECAUSE, BECAUSE WE, WE DIDN'T HAVE A POSITION ON IT AT ALL.
AND THE CAR, THE, THE FALLOUT WOULD EVENTUALLY BE MORE COSTLY AND CREATE SOME OTHER ISSUE.
YOU KNOW, JUST TO FIND THIS, THIS, YOU KNOW, LANGUAGE THAT, THAT'S SO BROAD, DO, DO WE REALLY WANNA, YOU KNOW, WILL THIS BE, YOU KNOW, TO AN EXTENT THAT OUR, WE HAVE TO PUT OUR STAFF THROUGH THAT.
SO THIS DOCUMENT, ARE YOU FOR THIS DOCUMENT, OR WOULD YOU RATHER TAKE A HARDER LINE AND SAY THAT IT'S OVERLY BROAD AND WE'RE AGAINST IT? NO, I, I DON'T THINK THAT WE SHOULD DRAW THAT TYPE OF LINE IN THE SAND ONE BECAUSE WE, WE REALLY DON'T KNOW.
THERE'S A LINE IN THE SAND ALREADY.
BUT AGAIN, THERE IS A POS YOU KNOW, WE, WE WANNA BE ABLE TO, TO SAY AS LEADERS IN OUR, OUR INDUSTRY THAT WE SEE WHERE THIS IS PROBLEMATIC, BUT WE ARE OPEN TO A DIALOGUE, UM, RATHER THAN, YOU KNOW, TAKING THIS HARD LINE THAT SAYS, NO, WE, WE DON'T WANT THIS AT ALL.
THAT MAY NEC, THAT MAY BE THE, THAT MAY BE TRULY HOW WE FEEL, BUT WE WANT, WE WANNA BE PARTNERS.
WE WANT, WE ARE A COMMUNITY, YOU KNOW, ENTITY, AND WE WANNA WORK WITH ALL COMMUNITY MEMBERS, WHETHER THEY HAVE OR HOLD THE SAME PERSPECTIVE AS WE DO.
SO WE, WE DON'T WANT TO ALIENATE ANYONE BY SAYING, NO, WE, WE DON'T WANT THIS AT ALL.
BUT WE'RE, BUT I THINK THIS, THESE RESOLUTIONS SAY WE ARE CONCERNED BECAUSE THIS, THIS LEGISLATION BEING OFFERED IS PROBLEMATIC, BUT AS LEADERS WITHIN OUR INDUSTRY, WE, THIS IS WHERE WHAT WE SEE IS REALLY PROBLEMATIC ABOUT THIS LANGUAGE.
AND, AND ARE YOU OPEN TO CHANGING IT? THIS IS WHAT WE'D LIKE TO SEE, AND WE CAN SUPPORT IT.
WE CAN CONTINUE TO DISCUSS IT AND HAVE DIALOGUE WITH IT, AS OPPOSED TO DOING NOTHING AT ALL.
UNFORTUNATELY, THE LEGISLATURE MEETS IN A SHORT PERIOD OF TIME, AND, YOU KNOW, WRITING THAT TO THEM AND PUTTING THIS IN, IT'LL BE ANNOUNCED INTO THE LEGISLATION.
UH, THEY'RE, THEY'RE VERY UNLIKELY TO CALL US AND ASK US TO COME NEGOTIATE WITH THEM ON IT, UNLESS YOU'RE GONNA GO DOWN THERE AND LOBBY THEM IN PERSON.
I I'M, I'M, I THOUGHT THAT THEY HAD A LOBBYIST THAT'S, SEE IF THAT'S, THEN YOU'RE BASICALLY, YOU'RE AT THE WHIM OF WHOEVER MAY BE AT THE HEARING WHEN IT IS SCHEDULED, WHOEVER SHOWS UP, RIGHT.
AND THE PEOPLE THAT SHOW UP ARE PROBABLY GONNA BE THE PEOPLE THAT WERE FOR THIS.
WELL, THAT'S, I MEAN, AND BECAUSE I, I MEAN, BECAUSE I, I, I'LL BE HONEST WITH YOU, I THOUGHT THAT, HEY, I THOUGHT THE LOUISIANA LIBRARY ASSOCIATION HAD, WOULD HAVE SOME REPRESENTATION IN KIND OF FOLLOWING THIS, UM, TO KIND OF AT LEAST OFFER A COUNTERBALANCE WHENEVER THAT TIME COMES.
BUT I MEAN, IF IT, THERE, THERE WILL BE, THERE WILL BE LOTS OF OPPOSITION TO THIS.
[01:45:01]
WHAT MR. JONES HAS DONE IS SAID, SAID, IF YOU AMEND IT IN THIS MANNER, THAT HE'S TAKEN EACH PIECE OF LEGISLATION AND SAID, IF YOU AMEND IT IN THIS MANNER, THEN WE WOULD BE ABLE TO SUPPORT IT.HE'S CHANGED THE WORDING FROM SEXUALLY EXPLICIT TO AGE APPROPRIATE.
AND, AND HE'S, UM, AND THAT'S WHAT HE'S DONE IN THE, UH, AND HE, HE'S CHANGED IT, UH, TO MAKE IT AGE APPROPRIATE AND THAT, UH, THAT THEY COULD SUPPORT THE, THIS IS LINCOLN PARISH LIBRARY, THAT THEY COULD SUPPORT IT, THAT THE, UM, THE LEGISLATION, IF THE WORDING IS CHANGED AND, AND HE DELETES, UM, UH, THE, THE, THE MORE EXPLICIT STUFF AND HE, UH, CHANGES IT TO AGE APPROPRIATE.
THAT'S WHAT IT, IF YOU SO READ THIS.
AND SO HE SAID THAT LINCOLN PARISH, UH, THAT'S WHAT THIS RESOLUTION, UH, THAT THEY PASS, SAID THAT LINCOLN PARISH COULD SUPPORT THE LEGISLATION IF IT IS A AMENDED IN THIS MANNER.
AND MOSTLY THAT'S WHAT HE'S DOING IS, IS CHANGING THE WORDING FROM SEXUALLY EXPLICIT TO AGE APPROPRIATE.
SO IT SEEMS TO BE THAT THEN THE, THE MAIN OPPOSITION IS COMING, THE, WHAT I'M GETTING FROM YOU IS THE USE OF SEXUAL EXPLICIT, BUT WE ALSO HAVE THAT OTHER BILL DEALING WITH THE STRUCTURE OF HOW LIBRARY BOARDS OPERATE.
SO WHAT, WHAT HAS BEEN HE'S, HAS HE MADE ANY CONCESSIONS REGARDING THAT? OR HAS THAT REALLY NOT BEEN DISCUSSED, OR NO, HE'S OKAY.
SO THE FIRST PAGE IS SENATE BILL SEVEN, WHICH DEALS WITH THE, UM, CARD STRUCTURE AND SEXUALLY EXPLICIT TO AGE IN AGE, INAPPROPRIATE OR AGE APPROPRIATE MATERIAL.
HOUSE BILL 25 IS GOVERNANCE OF THE, UM, LIBRARY BORDER CONTROL.
THEN ON THE BACK PAGE OF THAT WILL BE HOUSE BILL 1 0 2, WHICH IS VERY SIMILAR TO, UM, YEAH, LOUISIANA SENATE BILL SEVEN.
SO HE'S DONE A RESOLUTION FOR ALL THREE TO MAKE THEM MORE, ACTUALLY, THE WORK HE'S DONE IS QUITE GOOD.
UH, THE, THE WORK, UM, UH, FARMER SENATOR JONES HAS DONE IS, IS, UH, IS QUITE GOOD.
HE'S, HE'S KIND OF, UM, HE'S DONE THE MEDIATING BY CHANGING THE, THE, THE FORMAT AND DELETING AND PUTTING IN WHAT I THINK WOULD PROBABLY BE A, A GOOD MIDDLE GROUND, AND THAT HE'S USING THE WORDS AGE APPROPRIATE.
SO, UM, AND THEN, UH, YOU KNOW, ALL LIBRARIES HAVE A, UH, YOU KNOW, A BOOK REVIEW IF PATRONS SUBMIT IT.
SO, UM, WE CAN PROBABLY, UH, PASS THIS RESOLUTION THAT WE COULD SUPPORT THE BILLS IF THEY CHANGED IT, IF THEY CHANGED THE WORDING, UH, AND, AND, UH, AND HAVE IT AS AGE APPROPRIATE AND, AND WHAT HE HAS DONE, CUZ HE'S DONE A VERY, HE'S DONE A VERY GOOD JOB ON IT.
SO ARE WE SAYING THAT WE WANT TO, I MEAN, ULTIMATELY THIS IS WHAT WE'RE HERE FOR.
DO WE ADOPT THESE RESOLUTIONS AND SUBMIT THEM, OR WE'RE NOT GONNA ADOPT THESE RESOLUTIONS? WELL, IT'S JUST A RE IT'S, I MEAN THESE, YEAH, WE COULD, THESE, THESE, I MEAN, WE COULD BASICALLY, THIS IS OUR POSITION AS, AS THE GOVERNING BOARD OF THE BAD PARISHS LIBRARY SYSTEM.
DO WE, THAT'S WHAT I'M SAYING.
DO WE, DO WE, DO WE WANNA WADE OFF INTO THIS? IF, IF WE DO, WE CAN, WE CAN TO ADOPT THIS AND WELL, I DON'T SEE, UM, I'M TRYING TO THINK WHAT WOULD BE THE DOWNSIDE OF IT ADOPTING THE RESOLUTION, BECAUSE IF THE LEGISLATION PASSES AS IS, I THINK IT WOULD BE VERY DETRIMENTAL TO US AND TO THE, WELL, WE HAVE TO LOOK AT US FIRST, BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT WE'RE HERE.
WE HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT OUR SYSTEM.
YOU KNOW, THAT'S WHAT HERE FOR, SO, UM, UH, BUT AS, AS, AS AMENDED TO MAKE SOME MIDDLE GROUND AND, AND CHANGE IT TO AGE
[01:50:01]
APPROPRIATE, WHICH I THINK IS WHAT, BUT DOES, THERE'S A LOT OF CONCERN THAT, UM, DOES THE, YOU KNOW, MAYBE A 10 YEAR OLD COULD CHECK OUT A RA THE MOVIE, WHICH IS NOT GONNA HAPPEN MM-HMM.RIGHT? WELL, UH, IT, IT, IT DOESN'T HAPPEN HERE, BUT FOR WHEN, WHEN FALSEHOODS ARE PERPETUATED, THEY, PEOPLE START TO BE, TO THINK THAT THEY'RE TRUE.
SO, UM, YOU KNOW, WE MAY HAVE TO, WE, I GUESS, UM, I MEAN, WE MAY ALL HAVE TO GO IN FRONT OF A COMMITTEE.
WELL, I MEAN, I'M JUST TELLING YOU, IF WE WE GO OFF INTO THIS, THIS IS A POSSIBILITY WE MAY ALL GET CALLED TO GO.
AND NICOLE, WHAT IS THE LIBRARY, UH, STATE LIBRARY BOARD? I'M SORRY, YOU AS A MEMBER OF THE STATE LIBRARY BOARD? HAVE Y'ALL TAKEN A STANCE ON THIS? UNFORTUNATELY, WE'VE NOT YET MET, UM, SINCE THE END OF 2022.
SO, NO, WE'VE NOT, UH, UNFORTUNATELY.
AND, YOU KNOW, JUST AS, UM, THERE ARE SOME PRIORITIES, INTERNAL PRIORITIES THAT THAT, THAT THE STATE, UM, LIBRARY SYSTEM, THE STATE LIBRARY IS DEALING AND WAITING THROUGH.
SO, NO, UM, I WOULD LIKE TO THINK THAT IF WE DID, YOU KNOW, BUT I DON'T, I DON'T WANNA SPEAK, UH, FOR THAT BOARD.
UH, I'M, I'M JUST SAYING FOR OUR BOARD, WHILE WE NEED TO DEFINITELY CONCERN OURSELVES WITH WHAT IS BEST FOR US, I THINK THE, THE END GAME IS IF THIS LEGISLATION PASSES AS IT IS, IT WILL NOT BE GOOD FOR US.
UM, AND IF WE KEEP THAT IN MIND, THEN, YOU KNOW, THEN ARE, ARE WE OKAY WITH JUST ALLOWING THIS TO, TO PASS THROUGH AND NOT TAKE A POSITION AND HAVE TO DEAL WITH THE, THE, THE FALLOUT? IF, IF THIS, BUT AT THAT POINT BECOMES AS, AS IT IS, IT BECOMES THAT YOU HAVE TO, YOU KNOW, FIGHT, PICK YOUR BATTLES AND FIGHT YOUR FIGHTS, UM, YOU KNOW, AND POSSIBLY EVEN GET THE BOARD TO EITHER TRY AND BRING LAWSUIT AGAINST HIM TO SAY, YOU KNOW, IT'S OVERLY BROAD AND, AND, UH, AND, AND, AND DO WE REALLY WANNA DO THAT? WELL, THAT PART, IN WHICH CASE SPEAK, I, YOU KNOW, I, I'D GO IN FRONT OF LEGISLATORS TO SPEAK ON SOMETHING, BUT DO I REALLY WANT TO GET INVOLVED IN A, A LAWSUIT SITUATION AS, AS A RESULT OF THIS PAST LEGISLATION? IS IT THAT'S, IS IT POSSIBLE TO GET THE, UH, CITY PARISHES, SINCE WE'RE A CITY PARISH BOARD, TO ASK THEIR LOBBYISTS TO LOBBY THIS FOR US? UH, THE CITY PARISH IS AWARE OF THIS AND MADE SURE THAT WE KNEW, WE, WE DID KNOW.
UM, AND THEY WERE VERY CONCERNED ABOUT THE FINANCIAL COST OR THE COST IN TIME.
I, I FEEL, I I, I'M NOT, I DON'T WANNA SAY TOO MUCH MORE THAN THAT, BUT, UM, WELL, UH, THAT'S NOT NECESSARILY, SO I, I THINK, YOU KNOW, MY TAKE ON, ON THE, THE STATE LIBRARY IS THAT WE ARE HERE TO SUPPORT LIBRARY SYSTEMS, RIGHT.
UM, BUT WE ARE SUPPORTING YOU AND THIS, YOU MEANING THE LIBRARY SYSTEMS, AND YET THE LIBRARY SYSTEM THEMSELVES DON'T FEEL COMPELLED TO TAKE A POSITION.
UM, SO THERE'S THAT DICHOTOMY, UM, THAT, THAT IS TROUBLING BECAUSE THEN HOW MUCH, HOW MUCH INFLUENCE DO WE HAVE WHEN WE'RE, WE'RE SUPPORTING LIBRARY SYSTEMS THAT AREN'T OUT THERE SUPPORTING THEMSELVES? RIGHT.
UM, SO, SO, BUT, BUT I, I, I, THE BOTTOM LINE IS, YOU KNOW, I, I'M, IF, IF THIS IS NOT SOMETHING THAT WE FEEL COMFORTABLE DOING, WE DON'T HAVE ENOUGH INFORMATION.
I, I UNDERSTAND THAT, BUT I, I JUST, THE TAKEAWAY IS THAT WE ARE, WE SHOULD NOT HAVE THE MINDSET THAT WE ARE NOT IN THIS FIGHT, OR WE SHOULDN'T DO ANYTHING, OR WE SHOULD JUST SORT OF WAIT AND SEE.
SO WHILE OUR ACTIONS MAY NOT NECESSARILY BE THIS, IT COULD BE SOMETHING, AND UNFORTUNATELY, IF, IF, IF THIS PASSES IT, IT WILL BE SOMETHING AT SOME POINT.
WHAT I'M THINKING IS, I, I'M, I'M JUST TRYING TO THINK FROM THE LIBRARY, THE STATE LIBRARY, I MEAN, I, I, I'M, I'M TRYING TO
[01:55:01]
THINK OF A MORE OF A, A UNIFIED APPROACH TO THIS WHERE MAYBE THE STATE LIBRARY OR THE LI LOUISIANA LIBRARY KIND OF GATHERS ALL THESE RESOLUTIONS OR WHATEVER AND SUBMITS THIS AS A, IS THAT WHAT THIS IS? THAT, WELL, THAT IS IN THE SENSE OF WHEN WE CAME TOGETHER, THE LOUISIANA LIBRARY ASSOCIATION PUT TOGETHER THE LUNCH AND LEARN FOR ALL THE DIRECTORS TO ATTEND OKAY.TO RECEIVE THESE SAMPLE RESOLUTIONS.
AND THAT IS MR. JONES'S, UM, PRIORITY IS TO GET A UNIFIED, HEY, WE ALL BELIEVE IN THE BILLS.
IF YOU CAN DO THESE, THESE EDITS TO MAKE THEM SO THAT THEY ARE NOT, UM, OVERLY BURDENSOME OR ENTIRELY TOO BROAD, THAT THEY CANNOT BE ENFORCED OR ENTIRELY TOO RESTRICTIVE.
AND, UM, OUTWEIGHING THE BALANCE OF POWER OF THE COMMUNITY VERSUS, UM, VERSUS THE, THE LIBRARY, UM, BOARD.
SO THAT WAS THE HOPE THAT ALL THE LIBRARY BOARDS WOULD SUBMIT THE RESOLUTIONS.
BUT THAT ISN'T THE, THAT ISN'T THE STATE'S LIBRARY'S, IT'S NOT CHARGE TO DO THAT.
THEY, THEY CAN'T HELP WITH, THEY CAN'T LOBBY THE LEGISLATURE.
THEY HELP WITH TRAINING, THEY HELP WITH SUPPORT FOR THE DIRECTORS WHEN THEY HAVE QUESTIONS, TRAINING THE BOARDS, UM, OFFERING THE STATE RESOURCE SHARING.
BUT, UM, THE LIBRARY ASSOCIATION IS WHAT BROUGHT THIS TO EVERYONE'S ATTENTION SO THAT WE COULD HAVE THE POTENTIAL OF A UNIFIED FRONT, BUT THEY'RE NOT GONNA, YOU KNOW, THEY, THEY CAN'T FORCE EVERY SINGLE LIBRARY BOARD TO ACTUALLY ADOPT IT.
HERE'S THE VEHICLE THAT WE THINK, YOU KNOW, WOULD WORK TO HELP MITIGATE ANY HARM THAT COULD BE CAUSED INTENTIONALLY OR OTHERWISE BY THESE, UM, BILLS THAT ARE BEING PROPOSED.
UM, THE MESSAGE THAT YOU SEND THROUGH ACTION OR INACTION WILL BE THERE, UM, NOT ONLY TO ALL THE REST OF THE LIBRARIES IN THE STATE, BUT YOUR COMMUNITY AND THE STAFF MEMBERS HERE AS WELL.
IN MY YEARS OF GOING TO THE LEGISLATURE AND WATCHING THEM, WHICH I STARTED AS A PRE-TEEN OR TWEEN, UH, GOING DOWN THERE AND WATCHING THEM, THESE THINGS GET READ IN.
UH, BUT UNLESS YOU HAVE SOMEONE DOWN THERE LOBBYING FOR SOMETHING, YOU, YOU'VE, YOU'VE GOT VERY LITTLE TO SAY IN WHAT'S GOING IN.
UH, THEY'VE GOT REAMS AND REAMS. YOU COULD FILL A LIBRARY WITH THE PAPER THEY'RE SUPPOSED TO READ DURING A LEGISLATIVE SESSION.
UH, AND, UH, YOU KNOW, WITHOUT SOMEONE THERE TO MAKE THAT POINT FOR YOU, THAT'S A PROBLEM.
UH, I WOULD LIKE TO LOOK IN THE FUTURE TO, TOWARDS TRYING TO FIND SOME WAY TO FIND A LOBBYIST, NOT ONLY FOR US, BUT FOR ALL LIBRARIES AND LIBRARIANS.
SO THERE IS SOMEONE WHO, EVERY LIBRARY.ORG IS A NONPROFIT, BUT THEY ALSO HAVE A LOBBYIST AND THEY HAVE BEEN ADVISING THE LOUISIANA LIBRARY ASSOCIATION AND INDIVIDUALS WITHIN THE STATE, BECAUSE OF COURSE, INDIVIDUALLY WE CAN ALL CONTACT PEOPLE, RIGHT.
BUT, UH, EVERY LIBRARY WAS ALSO, UH, PART OF THIS CONVERSATION.
AND, UH, THEY'RE NOT BASED IN LOUISIANA, THEY'RE BROADER, THEY'RE FOLLOWING THIS NATIONAL, NATIONAL, YEAH.
UM, AND THEY'RE SEEING IT PLAYED OUT IN DIFFERENT WAYS.
AND THEY ARE, THEY ARE, UM, VERY IN TUNE WITH WHAT'S HAPPENING.
THEY'RE WATCHING IT VERY CLOSELY.
HERE WE ARE, WE ARE ONE OF THE, THE HOT, UM, WHAT DO YOU CALL IT? UH, WHAT DO YOU CALL IT? UM, WE'RE, WE'RE IN THE HOT ZONE.
AND DO THEY INTEND ON HAVING SOMEONE AT THE LEGISLATURE AS A LOBBYIST? I, I BELIEVE THAT THEY HAVE PEOPLE TALKING TO PEOPLE.
AND I DO WANT TO SAY, UH, AS A PRIVATE CITIZEN, UH, MY LEGISLATURE IS NOT THE ONE PRESENTING THIS.
SO I HAVE NO PROBLEM GOING TO MY LEGISLATOR AND SAY, THANKING THEM FOR NOT BEING PART OF THIS OR TRYING TO CHANGE IT.
SO THAT'S JUST SOMETHING TO NOTE THAT, THAT THE EMAN OF THESE THREE BILLS ARE NOT OUR REPRESENTATIVES AND
[02:00:01]
SENATORS, BUT OUR REPRESENTATIVES AND SENATORS CERTAINLY NEED TO HEAR FROM US.SO YOU'RE, YOU, WOULD YOU THINK WE PROBABLY NEED TO, I'M GOING BACK TO WHAT DON WAS ASKING.
YOU FEEL LIKE WE PROBABLY NEED TO SUBMIT SOMETHING ON PAPER SHOWING WHERE WE STAND WITH THIS? I, I, I PERSONALLY THINK THAT, YES, I, OKAY, NOW THIS IS, THIS RESOLUTION IS NOT OUTRIGHT, IT, IT'S OPPOSING CORRECT.
IT SAYS, RIGHT, THAT, THAT WE ARE AS WRITTEN, WE CANNOT SUPPORT THESE BILLS.
IF THEY ARE AMENDED IN THIS MANNER, THEN, AND THEN WE CAN SUPPORT THEM.
SO, UM, WE CANNOT SUPPORT THE BILLS AS WRITTEN, BUT, UH, AS AMENDED, WE CAN SUPPORT THE BILLS.
THAT'S WHAT THE LINCOLN PARISH, UM, RESOLUTION IS.
SO IT'S OFFERING A WAY TO, TO, UM, LET SOME SORT OF LEGISLATION GO THROUGH, BUT AMENDED TO, UM, AS I, AS I SAID, TO CHANGE THE LANGUAGE FROM SEXUALLY EXPLICIT TO AGE APPROPRIATE.
AND WELL, THEN I HAVE, I, I HAVE NO PROBLEM IF, IF THE WILL IS TO, TO ADOPT THESE, UH, UH, YOU KNOW, RESOLUTIONS.
UH, I MEAN, I HAVE NO, NO PROBLEM WITH THAT IF THAT'S WHAT THE WILL OF THE BOARD IS.
UM, BUT AS I SAID, IT'S, YOU KNOW, WE WADE OFF INTO THOSE WATERS.
I KIND OF FEEL, BE READY, STUCK IN THAT SITUATION WHERE, YOU KNOW, ARE YOU, DO WE REALLY NEED TO, TO STAND UP FOR THE, THE GOODNESS OF OUR LIBRARY SYSTEM OR JUST NOT SAY ANYTHING? I THINK AT THIS POINT, I WOULD PREFER THAT WE STAND UP FOR OUR LIBRARY SYSTEM, OUR PEOPLE WHO WORK HERE, AND, UM, AND, AND THAT'S WHAT, THAT'S WHAT WE DO.
AND THAT'S HOW IT NEEDS TO BE, UH, EXPLAINED THAT AS WRITTEN, WE CAN'T SUPPORT IT.
BUT IF IT, IT CAN BE AMENDED TO, UM, FOR THE LA FOR THE LANGUAGE TO, TO SAY AGE APPROPRIATE LEVELS AND ALL THE POSITIVE THINGS WE DO.
WELL, AND, AND, AND, AND I'M GONNA TELL YOU, UM, YOU KNOW, I, I'VE GOT TO BE CAREFUL BECAUSE OF MY, OF WHAT I AM AND MY JOB.
SO, BUT THERE ARE OTHERS ON THE BOARD THAT DO NOT HAVE THAT CONCERN.
SO, I MEAN, SOMEBODY'S GOING TO GET PROBABLY ASKED TO TESTIFY.
WELL, YOU KNOW, I'M JUST, I'M JUST LETTING Y I'M JUST KIND OF LETTING YOU KNOW UPFRONT.
IT'S MADE, IT'S MADE IT INTO THE CALL.
DO WE KNOW WHEN IT'S ON SCHEDULE OR HAS IT EVEN BEEN SCHEDULED? WE DON'T EVEN KNOW THAT YET.
IF IT'S NOT BEEN SCHEDULED, DO WE NEED TO MAKE A DECISION TONIGHT? CAN WE WAIT TILL MAY? UH, THAT MAY BE PUSHING IT TOO LATE.
BUT THIS MAY BE, MAY NEVER CATCH ANY TRACTION EITHER DURING A PHYSICAL SESSION.
I MEAN, UH, BECAUSE I THINK THE WAY YOU EXPLAIN, IF WE HAD HAD, IF WE WOULD'VE ADOPTED THIS, THEN NEXT WEEK Y'ALL WOULD HAVE THIS TYPED UP.
OR IS THERE ANY WAY WE COULD DO A SPECIAL MEETING OR A, UH, TELE MEETING OR SOMETHING? SHOULD WE NEED TO VOTE ON IT? NO, NO.
TELE MEETINGS WOULD BE ALLOWED THERE.
THAT'S SPECIAL OVER FROM A SPECIAL MEETING COVID.
SO IT'D HAVE TO BE A SPECIAL MEETING IF YOU WANT ADDITIONAL TIME WITH IT.
I DO THINK THAT MAY WOULD BE ENTIRELY TOO LATE.
CUZ WE DON'T KNOW WHEN THEY WILL ACTUALLY, UH, BRING IT UP IN THE FISCAL SESSION.
UM, OR IF THEY TACK IT TO SOMETHING ELSE, THEY, THEY, ABSOLUTELY.
UM, I'M GONNA, UH, I'M IN AGREEMENT WITH, WITH MARY THAT AT THE, AT THE LEAST THIS IS THE PATH OF, OF LEASE RESISTANCE.
UM, MY PERSONAL FEELINGS, A AGAINST THE BILLS WOULD BE, I DON'T LIKE TO GIVE THE MIDDLE GROUND ON FIRST BLUSH, BUT I'VE GOT TWO PEOPLE THAT I TOTALLY RESPECT GIVING ME THEIR OPINION.
PATRICIA, WHERE, WHERE DO YOU STAND ON THIS? I THINK WHAT NICHOLAS IS MAKES A LOT OF SENSE.
OKAY, WELL Y'ALL ARE CHANGING MY MIND.
[02:05:01]
A LOT OF SENSE.THEN WE GO AHEAD AND, UH, IF IS, IS I MOVE THAT WE PASS IT SECOND.
THERE IS A MOTION TO ADOPT, UH, ADOPT THIS RESOLUTION, UH, OR RESOLUTIONS.
ANY OPPOSED? THEY ARE ADOPTED.
UM, THERE'S NO OTHER COMMENT FROM THE BOARD.
IS THERE ANY PUBLIC COMMENT ON ANY OF THE ITEMS LISTED UNDER ROMAN NUMERAL SEVEN ON THE AGENDA? NEW BUSINESS? OKAY.
SEEING NONE COMMENTS BY THE LIBRARY BOARD OF CONTROL.
I JUST, UH, WOULD LIKE TO ONCE AGAIN COMMEND AS, AS DON HAS ALREADY DONE, BUT COMMEND STAFF, UM, FOR THEIR DILIGENCE AND, AND PRUDENCE IN THIS, IN, IN ALL MATTERS, BUT ESPECIALLY THIS ONE.
UM, AND LET YOU ALL KNOW THAT WE TRULY APPRECIATE WHAT YOU DO AND THE VALUE THAT YOU ADD TO OUR LIBRARY SYSTEM, ALLOWING IT TO BE WHAT IT IS.
AND ALSO IN THIS CLIMATE, UH, I WOULD LIKE THIS THE, THE STAFF AND EVERYONE WHO WORKS HERE TO KNOW, UM, HOW MUCH THE, THE COMMUNITY KNOWS AND, AND WE KNOW, UH, WHAT A WONDERFUL JOB, UH, THEY DO, ESPECIALLY WORKING WITH CHILDREN AND TEENS AND, UM, CREATING A, A JOYFUL LEARNING ATMOSPHERE, UH, FOR THE YOUTH AND OUR PARISH.
THANK Y'ALL ALL FOR EVERYTHING Y'ALL DO.
UH, THE LIBRARIANS, THE PAGES, THE EVERYBODY THAT DOES EVERYTHING THAT MAKES THIS SUCH A WONDERFUL SYSTEM.
UH, I'VE ALMOST COMPLETED TWO TERMS. UH, I WILL FIND OUT, UH, IN MAY, WHETHER OR NOT I WILL GET A THIRD TERM IF I DON'T.
IT'S BEEN A PLEASURE AND AN HONOR TO BE ABLE TO WORK WITH ALL OF Y'ALL.
UH, I HOPE THAT THE NEXT MEETING, UH, I GET TO BE REAPPOINTED TO SERVE YET A THIRD TERM.
UH, JUST SPEAKING FROM, UH, A SCHOOL AND AN EDUCATOR'S POINT OF VIEW AND I WATCH AND LISTEN AND HEAR CONVERSATIONS WITH OUR, OUR PARENTS AS THEY COME IN AND OUT, UH, OF THE SCHOOLS.
THEY TRULY AND THOROUGHLY APPRECIATE WHAT THE LIBRARY DOES AND HOW YOU ALL ARE SO INVOLVED AND ENGAGED IN COMMUNITY ACTIVITIES AND THEY FEEL SO WELCOME WHEN THEY GET THE OPPORTUNITY TO COME AND BRING THEIR KIDS.
AND ON A UNRELATED MATTER, WHEN I WAS AT MY BOTANICAL GARDEN BOARD MEETING THIS PAST MONDAY, UH, I JUST WANTED TO PASS ON SOME KUDOS TO WHAT Y'ALL DONE WITH GARDEN DISCOVERIES AND WHAT Y'ALL DONE WITH THE WEBSITE AS FAR AS GETTING SOME OF THAT MATERIAL OUT THERE.
SO THEY WERE VERY THANKFUL FOR THAT.
SO I SAID I WILL PASS THAT ON TO THEM.
SO IS THERE ANY OTHER, UM, ANY OTHER COMMENTS? OKAY.
DO I HAVE A MOTION TO ADJOURN? A MOTION? I SECOND.
ANY OPPOSED? WE ARE ADJOURNED.