This is an EXTREMELY CRUCIAL CALL TO ACTION!
We know you love our library; that’s why you signed the St Tammany Parish Library Alliance petition and joined our wonderful group of pro-library supporters! We have a request that is timely and important:
We are asking you to email your Parish Council representative as well as the rest of the Council members, Parish President Mike Cooper, and Interim District Attorney Collin Sims. Their contact information is provided at the bottom of the page.
WHY IS THIS REQUEST BEING MADE?
At the next Council meeting on February 8th at 6 PM in the Parish Council Chambers, an ordinance (or perhaps a resolution) is expected to be put on the agenda and voted on by all Council members. It’s very important that as many of us as possible attend so please mark your calendar. Confirmation of the final agenda item will be available online, but has not yet been published at this time.
The intent of the ordinance/resolution will be to give the Parish Council the ability to fire or replace all or some members of the existing Library Board of Control who were voted on by our very own Parish Council. There are simply some people on our new Council who want to control our library for all the wrong reasons. We don’t know how many Council members are in agreement, but according to outspoken anti-free speech activist and new Parish Council member David Cougle:
“We plan to address the Library Board situation at the first opportunity we have, probably in February. And I am certain we do have the legal authority to replace the board.”
His surety is based upon this recent opinion by Interim DA Sims:
“It is our opinion that the Parish Council can remove a member of the library board of control (LBOC) with or without cause. If a reason is given for removal (for cause), the reason must be legal. Any reason for removal that is either discriminatory of a protected class or in retaliation for the exercise of a protected right under the U.S. Constitution or the Louisiana Constitution, including, but not limited to the exercise of free speech, is prohibited. Retaliation for the exercise of a constitutionally protected right, such as freedom of speech or religion, or discrimination against a protected class is illegal and will likely result in a federal lawsuit. [...] Additionally, the Parish Council can dissolve the entire board and appoint another.”
The only cause we see is that some members of the LBOC have made it very clear that they support a diverse library that represents our entire community.
This is why the Library Alliance feels it is so important that OUR voices are loud and clear regarding our support for the library and the current Library Board. We don’t believe our elected officials have heard enough from those of us supporting our library. The loud, angry voices have been speaking out and meeting secretly with our representatives behind closed doors, but we know that we outnumber those folks. We need to show that support in big numbers!
Of course we need a VERY large turnout at Council Chambers on the 8th, but just as importantly: WE NEED A HUGE NUMBER OF EMAILS TO BE SENT NOW!
Please put this email response on your to-do list this week. There is an Agenda Review meeting on Wednesday January 31st at 6 PM and we need to have these emails in Council members' inboxes ahead of that meeting.
DID YOU KNOW?
Connie Phillips, who is responsible for filing the majority of complaints in STP on behalf of the St Tammany Parish Library Accountability Project, recently withdrew the remainder of her Statements of Concern. On the surface, this could be seen as a win for Free Speech and the Challenged Materials, but there are many who are concerned about the political scheming and rationale behind this decision, including how it plays into the above mentioned potential changes to the existing LBOC. Additional info can be found in this nola.com article.
DO YOU NEED SOME IDEAS ON WHAT TO WRITE?
It’s important to make your email your own but here are some talking points you can include. Above all, let your elected officials know why YOU like the library and the many benefits it provides for you and your family.
- St Tammany Library system instituted a tiered juvenile card system in November of 2022 to allow parents to choose for their children what books their kids can read and that has been recently updated to limit digital access. Click here for more details on the various juvenile library cards access options that parents can choose from!
- Act 436, passed by the legislature in 2023, requires that every library in the state have a tiered youth card system in place by June of 2024. St Tammany was nearly 18 months ahead of schedule. They are following the new law as are our LBOC members.
- Parents want to make choices for their own children. This is not the job of elected officials or other citizens who do not happen to like a particular book or subject matter.
- Our LBOC is composed of journalists, former librarians and other dedicated (and unpaid!) professionals who have been following the law and the rules. Why would you remove any of them?
- If Council members are allowed to remove Board members at will and without well-documented reasons, this can result in a chaotic situation in St Tammany. Consider the implications this could have on all of the other current functioning boards and commissions.
- Parish Council members were elected by citizens to oversee the problems of drainage, traffic, infrastructure, environmental issues, and over development. The majority living here do not wish for our elected officials to get in the middle of culture wars but rather to do the job they were elected to do.
CONTACT INFORMATION
Copy and paste this list of email addresses into your "TO" bar to send your email to Parish President Cooper, all current Parish Council members, and Interim DA Sims.
[email protected],
[email protected],
[email protected],
[email protected],
[email protected],
[email protected],
[email protected],
[email protected],
[email protected],
[email protected],
[email protected],
[email protected],
[email protected],
[email protected],
[email protected],
[email protected]
Curious about who your current Council member is?
Click here for more information on the current Parish Council members, including a district map.
Don't forget the Library millage renewal is expected to be on the ballot at some point later this year! There are some in our community who would prefer our libraries be defunded if they don't get their way. If you don't want to see this happen, remember that your vote is your voice!
