Great expectations for the library

The East Baton Rouge Parish Library spent the past year dodging funding raids, political attacks and social media potshots.

Then voters gave it another decade.

Why it matters: With Saturday’s tax renewal secured, library leaders can stop playing defense and return to the work: books, branches, technology, job training and places where children can learn without anyone asking for a credit card.

What’s next: The library will return to its master plan at a measured pace, with plenty in it for people who use branches or go online for services.

Mary Stein, the library’s assistant director, sent RedEye a list of work planned for the next few years.

• The library will keep its freeze on 72 open jobs for now, a cautious move after a bruising year. “We will take our time to determine what is needed,” Stein says.

The big work: 

• Expansions and upgrades are back on for Scotlandville, Bluebonnet, Baker and Zachary, along with a new Delmont Gardens branch.
• Smaller renovations and repairs are planned for Carver, Eden Park, Pride-Chaneyville, the Main Library and Fairwood.
• The library also will pursue smaller, 8.000-square-foot branches at the former Earl K. Long hospital site and around Gardere Avenue. Those would fall into the system’s START library category, which targets services and resources to fill gaps and fit neighborhood needs.

For readers:

• Fuller book budgets should mean less waiting for the popular titles everyone suddenly wants at the same time.
• The library also could devote resources to its mobile hotspot program, which helps people with limited or no internet access get online. The devices are in high demand and provide access to the Libby system, which offers digital books, the best thing since sliced bread.  

The fun stuff:

• Outdoor StoryWalks could expand to more branches. The stories unfold on kiosks and change each month. The library already has them at the Main Library branch, Carver in Old South Baton Rouge and in Baker.
• Bike repair stations, like the one at the South Branch at Rouzan, could be added at more locations, including the Main Library.
• Drinking fountains across the system will be converted into combination fountains and water-bottle filling stations. Less plastic waste. Better civilization.

More programming: 

• The library is planning more ASL classes in 2027, more maker classes and the next Small Business Engine series.
• It also will update the “Press Start, Ready, Set, Read!” series of 36 booklets, designed to help families with children ages 2–4 get ready for kindergarten.

The bottom line: Voters did not just renew a tax. They gave the library permission to stop flinching and get back to the main reason libraries exist: to teach, share knowledge and keep civilization intact, from one generation to the next.