Mayor-President Sid Edwards stirred controversy last month after releasing a proposal hoping to boost police salaries using funds from the East Baton Rouge Parish Library, with supporters of the library coming out in droves to oppose the change.
Over 100 people showed up to a Feb. 12 Metropolitan Council meeting to comment in support of the Library, leaving members unsure of whether to advance Edwards’ proposal.
As the Library’s budget remains in question, residents across Baton Rouge have something to say about it.
Lena Guttner, a senior at St. Joseph’s Academy, is one such resident and among the many high schoolers that visit the library to study.
“I promise you, around midterm and finals season, you know that every high school and college kid is in that library from dawn to dusk,” Guttner said.
The library is one of her favorite places because it’s not only a place to study, but a community hub complete with botanical gardens, a theatre and park available most times of the year.
“I think that is why libraries are just so important for the community. Because without them, where are you going to go, and who is always going to be open?” Guttner said.
She said she loves having access to the thousands of books and archives in the library not just because she’s interested, but also because she thinks reading is critical to understanding the world.
“If you try to erase the past or try hard to hide parts of it, you’re going to keep making the same mistakes and you’ll end up hurting people,” Guttner said.
James Douet, a senior majoring in anthropology at LSU, said the library has been a place for him to engage with the community, gain access to resources and read an abundance of books. From his childhood into adulthood, Douet said the library has been a home for him.
“[The library] means so much to me I don’t even know how to properly formulate it into the right words,” Douet said. “It’s so important it feels like a part of me. It really feels like it is a part of my identity as a person. What feels so important to me is that it’s not just me who has had that experience. I am one of thousands of people across this city who have had similar experiences.”
Douet explained the programs the Library offers enrich the lives of Baton Rouge residents. From free courses to job training, research databases to outreach, he called the Library’s value to residents “incalculable.” He said these resources are one way to improve the lives of children in the parish because it can engage them in learning and provide them positive opportunities that might otherwise be inaccessible.
“I beg the mayor to have a heart and realize just how important this is,” Douet said. “Not only to adults, but the kids. If kids are our future, and we want them to have the best opportunities possible, we want them to be interested in learning, we want them to go on and have great careers. The Library is one of the best ways for kids to get interested in a higher level of education.”
Douet urged Edwards to reconsider the reallocation, saying the redistribution of money from the library to police salaries will hurt parish residents.
“If he truly cares about crime rates, if he cares about the safety and betterment of his constituents, Sid needs to keep the library. He needs to not mess around with its funding …” Douet said. “Cutting any of [the library’s] programs, it goes back on his promises of being a good leader to the community of Baton Rouge.”
