LPL Board of Control Monthly Meeting
17 March 2025
On the Agenda:
- NE Library
- Approval of library marketing plan
AGENDA
SPEAKER FORM
Post Meeting Analysis:
After years of delays and roadblocks to a project that deserved to be built years ago, Monday night’s meeting felt more like a screening of Mr. Smith Goes to Washington or an episode of The West Wing than a typical Lafayette Public Library Board of Control meeting.
I won’t go into an exhaustive moment-to-moment recap, but there were a couple of highlights that need to be examined a little more closely:
- The presence of the Mayor-President and the City-Parish attorney, who both basically reminded the board that they act merely in an advisory capacity and have no actual power to stop the construction of the library, was both welcome and refreshing. It begs the question, however, of the fact that this is the second time parish officials have had to step in and pressure the board to move forward with this project. In the face of so much resistance from the likes of Robert Judge and (former) board member Stephanie Armbruster, why didn’t they step in sooner? In addition, why are board members who CLEARLY have no interest in fairly or objectively governing our library been allowed to remain in their seats, fomenting so much chaos and division in our community?
- While I’m happy that board member Allan Moore made the motion to construct the largest library option (with a designated MakerSpace), I’m baffled as to why he and (especially) Robert Judge now feel they can take credit for the project. Judge, in particular, has made numerous motions to delay, lease a smaller space, and postpone this library due to “lack of information” (as recently as last month, in fact). This, despite two committees, a design consultant, countless staff hours, and YEARS of sustained community support. Yet they came to the meeting on Monday night claiming this had been their plan all along? Why, it’s almost as if some inevitable event forced their hands, causing them to scramble to save face at the last moment.
- I’m all for celebrating this important milestone, but we should be aware that this is far from the end. I, personally, won’t be convinced until I see the doors of the new library open to the public. As Mayor Boulet expressed at the meeting, the next (and truly significant) step for this process is approval by the parish council. We can be certain that outside forces are working on the parish councilmen as we speak, trying to come up with some kind of scheme to either delay or deny the board’s vote from Monday night. And while Mayor-President Boulet does have veto power over the council’s decisions, it’s far from assured that the process will be a smooth one. As always, we will need to carefully watch the next developments.
What to Know Before:
After last month’s “indefinite” postponement of the vote on the size of the new NE Library by Robert Judge, the board will once again take up the issue at this month’s meeting.
As a refresher: Last month, Both the designer and the NE Library Community Committee, after reviewing all the relevant data and presentations, recommended the construction of the largest library (20,500 sq. ft) outlined with the widest range of community options. In response, some members of the library board waffled and delayed, claiming that after four years, two committees, multiple community surveys and mountains of data, they still didn’t have enough information to make a decision.
My feeling is that the board is going to try to lowball this one – either go with a smaller library footprint than the one recommended by the committee or find some other way to undercut this process once again.
However.
The ONLY thing that has kept the NE Library project alive and moving forward up to this point is YOU. The community has shown amazing support for building this library, and has kept up LOUD, SUSTAINED PRESSURE on these officials at every turn. We can’t stop now, y’all. We MUST write, call, and attend these meetings, and DEMAND that the Northside of Lafayette gets the largest library, because they NEED it, and they DESERVE it.
So PLEASE make an effort to provide some input for this. You can call, write, show up at the meeting and speak, or all three.
Luckily, we have a guide to contacting both the library board and local elected officials.
Want to show up at the meeting, but not sure what to expect? We’ve got you covered there, too.
Need some talking points? The NE Community Committee gave several reasons for their recommendation:
- Current need for the large, underserved area the library will serve justifies the necessity of the larger option
- Future anticipated population growth on the Northside, including new, incoming commercial development, will fuel demand for a larger library to serve the area now and into the future
- The need for workforce education in an area of the parish seeing explosive commercial growth.
Please try to make it to the meeting if you can. A big crowd is important – it shows the board as well as any officials present that the community supports this library. Feel free to grab the graphic below as well, and share it across your socials before the meeting on Monday.
March’s Censorship News
- Struggle for control of public libraries in full swing across the Deep South (Southern Poverty Law Center)
- ‘It’s going to happen’: Lafayette mayor tells board its approval is not necessary for new library (The Acadiana Advocate)
- Lafayette Public Library Board of Control approves plans for new Northeast Lafayette Regional Library (News 15)
- Lafayette Library Board votes unanimously to advance Northeast Regional branch (The Daily Advertiser)
- Northeast Regional Library Project approved by Library Board (KATC)
- New library construction progresses for Lafayette’s northside (KLFY)
- Federal judge won’t dismiss First Amendment lawsuit against ex Lafayette library president Robert Judge (The Acadiana Advocate)