– The Village of Parks needs a new library.
That was the message that Mayor Kevin Kately, parish Library Director Charlar Brew and what seemed like the entire population of the village delivered at this past Tuesday’s St. Martin Parish Council committee meetings.
Brew gave a presentation to the Administrative/ Finance Committee on a proposed new library building for the village, and then the mayor, members of the parish library’s Board of Control and residents of the village all spoke in favor of a new library building as a standingroom only crowd filled the Carroll J. Fuselier Meeting Room of the parish government Annex Building.
Brew told the council that the Parks Library was dedicated 32 years ago and is 1,902 square feet and has outdated restrooms and no handicap accessibility. The title for the property also cannot be found to belong to either the parish or the library board, she said.
In addition, because the library building is small, space is an issue for the many programs that the library holds, and for the meetings such as Girl Scout troop meetings that are held there.
“My fear and concern is that the fire marshal has not come to that building, because we would have been in trouble (because of overcrowding issues),” she said.
Brew said the library board had asked the council and previous administration eight years ago that the village’s library was too small and outdated, and that no clear title for the property could be found stating that it belongs to the parish library system.
The library board was told to wait a few years before the administration could agree to a new building, but the Parks library has only grown older and less safe for the number of people in the village and surrounding area who want to use it for meetings, research and internet access, Brew said.
The proposed library be 3,399 square feet with a meeting room, be handicap accessible and have updated restrooms and more computer terminals. It would be located adjacent to Parks City Hall and near the Cecile Potier Park.
Library
The property for the new library was donated by the Potier family for use as a library.
Brew asked Angelle Architects, which designed both the Breaux Bridge and Cecilia library branch buildings, to come up with a budget worksheet to show what it would cost to build a new library in Parks.
The figure in August 2023 was $2,032,500 for a brick-and-mortar design. Costs have gone up since, then, Brew said. Savings could be had by using a metal building with a nice facade, she added.
Parish President Pete Delcambre explained that the library board was able to save more than $10 million from two bond millages that the citizens of the parish passed years ago to build new libraries in St. Martinville, Breaux Bridge and Cecilia. After those bonds were paid off the library board was able to save money for future projects such as a new Parks library board.
The library board was told to wait to build a new library in parks, and then COVID hit, which delayed the project further.
Delcambre said he thinks the parish government has a commitment to live up to promises it made to build a new library.
“Of course, it’s just a position I take,” he said. I do not have a vote in this.”
The crowd in attendance gave Brew a standing ovation after she made her proposal for a new library.
The Parks mayor said all the people attending were in support of a new library building being constructed.
“We know that the library is not in the best shape,” Kately said. “We have many people visiting the library. We have a lot of meetings at the library with no space. Like the parish president said, we pay tax money for that. We shouldn’t have to be denied when that’s been going on for the last eight years.
Eight years.
“If you have a library board, and they can’t make any decisions, what’s the point of that? For eight years they’ve been saying let’s put a (new) library in Parks.”
Kately said the money is available, and the property for a new building is available also. The residents aren’t asking for a new tax or for money from the council, he said.
“The money is allocated,” he said. “I can’t see why we cannot put the library (up). Some people say we need a library in other places. We have $13 million in the bank. We’re only asking for two. We have to move forward. We can’t continue moving backwards.”
After building the Parks library, he said, the parish can move forward to build libraries in other areas, such as Stephensville, as Councilman Hoyt Louviere brought up later as a suggestion for the parish council.
“What bothers me is this — we’ve been discussing this for eight years,” Kately said. “No other location came up. Now all of a sudden we’ve got other people want libraries. I can’t figure that out. Do you really need it, or are you trying to add it into the pool so Parks won’t have it. Because what I see right here is a bunch of people from the Parks area.
“Let’s work together as a team. We have the location. We have the money. We have the support.”
Library Board President Tommy Romero and board member Georgie Blanchard also spoke in favor of building a new library in Parks.
Parks resident Randolph Joseph said that the current library building is not safe and comfortable. Space and money are available for a new building, he said.
“So I wish that the parish government would give approval to build a library in Parks,” he said.
Other residents also spoke in favor of a new library building in Parks, many mentioning the 700-1,000 students at the two schools in Parks who could use the library, and nearly 500 Girl Scouts who like to use the library.
Louviere reiterated that he is not against building a library in Parks, when people in the crowd grumbled at his bringing up the idea of a library in Lower St. Martin Parish. He said he supports libraries in both places.
Councilwoman Carla JeanBatiste said the council should not kick the idea of a library in Stephensville to the side, but felt that things should be done in order, and since the planning and idea of a new library building in Parks has been discussed for eight years, that should be first in the process. A Stephensville library could be planned simultaneously.
“When I got elected, one of the things that I tried to pride myself on was getting people to trust government,” Jean-Batiste said. “There’s a lot of lack of trust in government. We say things, then we do the opposite. Since I’ve been here, that’s what I’ve tried to do — let’s look at the solution.
“Considerations, conversations have been had about Parks. We need to look at that.”
Councilwoman Tangie Narcisse said there’s obviously a need for an upgrade to the library in Parks. The library board has done its due diligence to get a new library built there, including getting property donated for the use.
The parish council has already dealt with a fire station on property it does not own, and decided it wants to have its buildings on parish property.
“The value and the notion of the upgrade of the library in Parks, and for the parish to put parish money into the parish building, because that’s what the Parish Council has started doing, it’s obvious, she said. “If we move in any other way, shape, form or direction, I’m sitting here telling you, you cannot trust the Parish Council. And I’m done.”
Councilman Vincent Alexander said he feels the council should approve the new library building by a 9-0 vote, not a 6-3 vote or a 5-4 vote, after talking for eight years about building a new library in Parks.
As it was a committee meeting, no vote was done on the proposal to build the library at the meeting.
