State Library of Louisiana

STATE LIBRARY OF LOUISIANA CELEBRATES CALDWELL PARISH LIBRARY EXPANSION
$1.5 million project will add much-needed space for growing collection

BATON ROUGE, La. – Officials with the Caldwell Parish Library and the State Library of Louisiana broke ground Tuesday, April 25, on a project that will greatly increase space for a facility that first opened almost 50 years ago.

When work on the addition to the Caldwell Parish Library building is done in about a year, there will be 11,822 square feet for the growing collection. Right now, the library has 7,410 square feet.

“We’re running out of space,” said Tammi Hartsfield, director of the Caldwell Parish Library. “I’ve been the librarian since November 2015 and our usage is way up, which is a good thing.”

In addition to the new construction, the existing building will be renovated. Hartsfield said only the roof and carpet have been replaced since the doors opened in 1974.

The children’s section will be expanded and the genealogy department will finally have dedicated space thanks to the project. There will also be more space for large and small meetings, which the community has asked for, Hartsfield said.

The Davis Memorial Reading Garden will also open at the library after completion of the work on the building. Named in honor of Marshall Davis who served on the library board from 1976-2016, the garden will include a StoryWalk, which displays a children’s book page by page along a walking path. The StoryWalk will feature a new book each month.

“Caldwell Parish Library has continued to work hard and provide its citizens with excellent library service,” interim State Librarian Meg Placke said during the groundbreaking ceremony. “At the State Library, we look forward to seeing the renovated library, which will continue to serve generations to come.”

“Libraries are such an important part of a community. It’s wonderful to see the public recognize their value,” said Lieutenant Governor Billy Nungesser. “The citizens of Caldwell Parish will love what they see when this work is done.”

Hartsfield noted that work on the expansion began during National Library Week. “The theme this year is ‘There’s More to the Story.’ And, there is more to our story. This is our next chapter.”

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April 28, 2023

MEG PLACKE NAMED INTERIM STATE LIBRARIAN
State Library Board of Commissioners will conduct search for permanent appointment

BATON ROUGE, La.– The State Library of Louisiana Board of Commissioners on Thursday voted 6-0 to appoint Meg Placke as interim state librarian.

Placke most recently served as deputy state librarian. She began her career at the State Library of Louisiana in 2008 and has also served as a library consultant and associate state librarian.

“Libraries play an important role in educating our children and serving our communities with helpful resources. I’m glad the board is moving forward and working on naming a permanent state librarian,” said Lieutenant Governor Billy Nungesser.

The Board of Commissioners will conduct a national search for a permanent state librarian. A timeline for that process has not yet been set.

Contact Information:

Veronica Mosgrove
Office of the Lieutenant Governor
225-342-7009
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Louisiana Center for the Book presents 13th Annual National Poetry Month program

BATON ROUGE, La. – The Louisiana Center for the Book in the State Library of Louisiana will celebrate National Poetry Month in April with “Just Listen to Yourself: Louisiana’s Poet Laureate Presents Louisiana Poets.” Louisiana Poet Laureate Mona Lisa Saloy will host the event, now in its thirteenth year.

Saloy has invited nine poets from across the state to read their work. Participants are Ashanti Anderson, Hasan Atkins, Jack B. Bedell, Emmory Bridges, Ariel Francisco, Antira Jackson, Antione Lacey, Sha’Condria Sices-Sibley, and Samia White.

This free, in-person event will be held in the first-floor Seminar Center of the State Library in Baton Rouge on Wednesday, April 19, 2023, at noon. The State Library of Louisiana is located at 701 North 4th Street in Baton Rouge, LA.

“Louisiana’s culture is rich with an outstanding literary heritage. This event features a great mix of established and rising poets from throughout our state,” said Lieutenant Governor Billy Nungesser. “Louisiana Poet Laureate Mona Lisa Saloy has done a phenomenal job presenting this reading with some of the best talent our state has to offer. We are excited to welcome them to this year’s celebration of poetry.”

“What a thrill to welcome another group of fine poets to the Louisiana Center for the Book in the Louisiana State Library to celebrate National Poetry Month,” said Louisiana Poet Laureate Mona Lisa Saloy. “We continue the long-standing tradition of the ‘Just Listen to Yourself’ program begun by our beloved Darrell Bourque, our forever Louisiana poet laureate.”

Copies of books by participants will be available for purchase at the program.

Attendees may bring their own lunch and come and go as their schedules allow. The State Library of Louisiana is wheelchair accessible.

The Louisiana Center for the Book, established in the State Library of Louisiana in 1994 for the purpose of stimulating public interest in reading, books, literacy, and libraries and celebrating Louisiana’s rich literary heritage, is the state affiliate of the Library of Congress Center for the Book. For more information, please visit www.LouisianaBookFestival.org and follow us on Facebook.

BATON ROUGE, La. – The Louisiana Center for the Book in the State Library of Louisiana and Lieutenant Governor Billy Nungesser will celebrate Women’s History Month with a virtual presentation featuring New Orleans native and Women’s history scholar Miki Pfeffer. The theme for the 2023 National Women’s Month “Celebrating Women Who Tell Our Stories.” The presentation profiles the Women’s Department at the World’s Industrial and Cotton Centennial Exposition in New Orleans in 1885. Viewers will learn about the popular literary section and how a special collection of books was donated to circulate among New Orleans women after the Fair. The recorded presentation will be available on YouTube and Facebook on Wednesday, March 29, 2023.

Dr. Miki Pfefferis an independent scholar who studies Women’s literary and social history, especially nineteenth- and early twentieth-century women in the South. Her books are Southern Ladies and Suffragists: Julia Ward Howe and Women’s Rights at the 1884 New Orleans World’s Fair (University Press of Mississippi, 2014) and A New Orleans Author in Mark Twain’s Court: Letters from Grace King’s New England Sojourns (Louisiana State University Press, 2019).

Pfeffer has written on these subjects for scholarly journals and for collections of essays and has presented at scholarly conferences and to various local groups and Mark Twain venues. She earned an MA in English Literature and a Ph. D. in Urban History, both from the University of New Orleans. She continues to transcribe all correspondence in the Grace King Papers and is currently investigating the career of Ruth McEnery Stuart, who wrote in the same era.

Southern Ladies and Suffragists: Julia Ward Howe and Women’s Rights at the 1884 New Orleans World’s Fairis available for purchase through Cavalier House Books, the Louisiana Book Festival’s bookseller. Use code WHM2023 for a 20% discount at checkout.

The Louisiana Center for the Book, established in the State Library of Louisiana in 1994 for the purpose of stimulating public interest in reading, books, literacy, and libraries and celebrating Louisiana’s rich literary heritage, is the state affiliate of the Library of Congress Center for the Book. For more information, please visit www.LouisianaBookFestival.organd follow us on Facebook.

BATON ROUGE, La. – The Louisiana Center for the Book in the State Library of Louisiana celebrates   Black History Month with a virtual presentation featuring New Orleans native Bernice Alexander Bennett, author of Black Homesteaders of the South. The recorded presentation is now available on YouTube and Facebook.

 The presentation profiles Black homesteaders from nine Louisiana parishes: Ascension, Bossier, Claiborne, East Baton Rouge, East Feliciana, Livingston, St. Helena, Washington, and West Feliciana.  Viewers will learn about formerly enslaved men and women and their journeys to land ownership between 1870 and 1920.

“We honor Louisiana’s rich Black history and culture each year with the Louisiana Center for the Book in the State Library of Louisiana,” said Lieutenant Governor Billy Nungesser. “This year’s program highlights the contributions made by the many Black homesteaders whose names were previously lost to history.”

Bernice Alexander Bennett is an award-winning author and genealogist, a nationally recognized guest speaker and storyteller, and the producer-host of the BlogTalkRadio podcast Research at the National Archives and Beyond! She is the first recipient of the Ida B. Wells Service Award given by the Sons and Daughters of the United States Middle Passage for her dedication to broadcasting stories about enslaved and indentured ancestors of African descent.

Bennett is a former member of the Board of Directors for the National Genealogical Society, co-founder and faculty member of the Midwest African American Genealogy Institute, and a volunteer with the Homestead National Historical Park Service. She is a descendant of Homesteader Peter Clark of Livingston Parish and is committed to encouraging other descendants to write and share their family stories. 

At the beginning of this month, Bennett spoke at the National African American Museum of History and Culture where she discussed her book and how black genealogists networked through social media to trace their ancestors’ footsteps in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Louisiana, and Mississippi.

Bennett is also the author of Tracing Their Steps: A Memoir and a contributor to Our Ancestors, Our Stories. 

Black Homesteaders of the South is available for purchase through Cavalier House Books, the Louisiana Book Festival’s bookseller. Use code BHM2023 for a 20% discount at checkout.

The Louisiana Center for the Book, established in the State Library of Louisiana in 1994 for the purpose of stimulating public interest in reading, books, literacy, and libraries and celebrating Louisiana’s rich literary heritage, is the state affiliate of the Library of Congress Center for the Book. For more information, please visit LouisianaBookFestival.org and follow us on Facebook.

What young readers and families can expect at the 18th Annual Louisiana Book Festival

BATON ROUGE, La. – The 2022 Louisiana Book Festival announces an exciting lineup of activities and programs for young people from toddlers to teens during the state’s premier literary event. The festival, held on Saturday, October 29, 2022, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. in Baton Rouge’s Capitol Park area, will feature author talks and book signings, special areas for children and teens, face painting, balloon animals, and special appearances by Pig of Laura Numeroff’s If You Give… series and Spot of Eric Hill’s Spot the Dog series. As always, the festival is free and open to the public.

“The Louisiana Book Festival gives the young people in our state an extraordinary opportunity to meet and interact with some of the most popular and renowned children’s and young adult authors from Louisiana and beyond,” said Lieutenant Governor Billy Nungesser. “Not only is it an entertaining experience for families and people of all ages, but the festival also provides motivation for young people to become the next generation of life-long readers and great Louisiana writers.”

The festival is excited to welcome back the 2017 Louisiana Writer Award recipient and Louisiana native Johnette Downing with her latest children’s title, Five Little Possums. At her program, Johnette Downing will autograph the first guitar she ever received, a Christmas gift from her parents, which she graciously donated to the State Library. Other featured authors include Louisiana First Lady Donna Edwards with her debut picture book A Bandit in the Mansion, Newbery Honor author Margi Preus with Windswept, and Pura Belpré Honor author Alda P. Dobbs with Barefoot Dreams of Petra Luna and The Other Side of the River. The Young Readers Pavilion will feature storytellers, musical performances, and book related crafts.

Teens will enjoy American Ninja Warrior favorite Lance Pekus with his debut Young Adult novel The Warrior Within, co-written with Jesse Haynes, also attending as author of Delta Adrift. Other authors appearing include Adib Khorram, winner of both the 2019 William C. Morris Award and the Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature from the American Library Association with his novel Kiss & Tell; The New York Times bestselling authors Kathleen Glasgow and Liz Lawson with their book The Agathas; and, critically-acclaimed young adult author Shaun David Hutchinson with his latest novel, Howl. Teen Headquarters, located in the State Library of Louisiana, will feature crafts, giveaways, and trivia games hosted by attending YA authors.

Celebrated bestselling writer Susan Hood will be recognized for her Louisiana Young Readers’ Choice Honor Book Titan and the Wild Boars: The True Cave Rescue of the Thai Soccer Team at a ceremony in the State Library of Louisiana. Another special ceremony will be held at 2:30 p.m. in the Capitol Park Museum auditorium for Louisiana Writes contest winners from throughout the state. The writing competition provides opportunity for students in grades K-12 to submit fiction, poetry, and non-fiction in English or French.

Other standout guests for young people include the five Class of 2022 National Student Poets from across the county as they read their work and help celebrate the program’s ten years of youth poetry and service, and local teen entrepreneur Kheris Rogers, who will exhibit her viral apparel brand Flexin’ In My Complexion.

Musical performer Rick Kelley of Music with a Message for Kids will spend the week leading up to the Festival visiting various schools and libraries throughout the state, from Lake Charles to Slidell and from Bossier City and Benton to Baton Rouge, to promote the Louisiana Book Festival. His interactive performances, which involve music, singing, and literacy, inspire kids to read and find joy in books and libraries.

All authors are scheduled for signings in the festival book tent operated by Cavalier House Booksof Denham Springs.

The Louisiana Center for the Book, established in the State Library of Louisiana in 1994 for the purpose of stimulating public interest in reading, books, literacy, and libraries and celebrating Louisiana’s rich literary heritage, is the state affiliate of the Library of Congress Center for the Book.

For more information, including a full list of authors for all ages and an at-a-glance schedule of all programs, please visit www.LouisianaBookFestival.org and follow us on Facebook.

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Contact:
Barry Landry
Department of Culture, Recreation & Tourism
225-342-7009
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Veronica Mosgrove
Office of the Lieutenant Governor
225-342-7009
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From special celebrations to special guest authors, it’s all happening October 29 in Baton Rouge

BATON ROUGE, La. – The 18th Annual Louisiana Book Festival is set for Saturday,October 29, 2022, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. in Baton Rouge. This free, family-friendly, annual festival celebrating readers, writers, and their books returns to its premier location in downtown Baton Rouge’s Capitol Park with events and programming in the Louisiana State Capitol, State Library of Louisiana, Capitol Park Museum, Capitol Park Event Center, and in tents on neighboring streets. Over 200 authors and presenters, ranging from Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award winners to self-published and debut authors, will discuss their books at 100 programs held at 20 locations throughout the day, followed by book signings.

“Louisiana is well known for its vibrant festivals, and there’s a reason the Louisiana Book Festival is recognized nationally as one of the best,” said Lieutenant Governor Billy Nungesser. “You simply can’t beat the joyful atmosphere that reverberates through downtown Baton Rouge each year. There is truly something for everyone, and we encourage visitors to bring the whole family!”

The 2022 festival will include the Young Readers Pavilion, where young readers can enjoy children’s authors and storytelling and book-related crafts; Teen HQ activities and award-winning young adult authors; cooking demonstrations; food vendors; and a wide variety of book-related activities and exhibitors.

As always, the festival features books by Louisiana authors, books about or set in our state, and titles from Louisiana publishers, as well as celebrated authors from across the south and from throughout the nation, and this year a special guest from Canada. Gerard Collins (The Hush Sisters) joins the Louisiana Book Festival as part of a cultural initiative agreement Louisiana will sign with New Brunswick, Canada, this week and through an author exchange with the Frye Festival in Moncton, New Brunswick. Another notable author attending this year’s festival is Sr. Helen Prejean discussing River of Fire: On Becoming an Activist.

Current Louisiana Poet Laureate Mona Lisa Saloy will host two panels of Louisiana poets. She will also interview Pulitzer Prize poet and Louisiana native Jericho Brown about his work. The National Student Poets Class of 2022, representing the five geographical regions, will appear together to read from their work.

Jack E. Davis, Pulitzer Prize winner for The Gulf, discusses his latest work, The Bald Eagle: The Improbable Journey of America’s Bird, as he appears with Louisianan Rien Fertel, author of Brown Pelican. Another Pulitzer Prize winner and former Louisiana resident Robert Olen Butler will discuss his latest novel, Late City.

The Louisiana Book Festival will honor David Armand with the 2022 Louisiana Writer Award at the opening ceremony on Friday, October 28. Armand then will discuss his work with State Library board member David Johnson, who will also interview Al Copeland, Jr., as he shares recollections about his father and founder of Popeyes. Past Louisiana Writer Award (LWA) recipients Johnette Downing, Fatima Shaik, and Tom Piazza will also be participating in the festival.

Narrative 4 will honor one of its founding members Darrell Bourque, also a past LWA recipient and twice Louisiana Poet Laureate, as the organization launches its international yearlong tenth anniversary celebration during a program featuring members of the Narrative 4 Artists Network, including co-founder Colum McCann, winner of the National Book Award. Participating N4 Artists include Louisiana’s fiction writer Maurice Carlos Ruffin and poet Dean Thomas Ellis.

To learn more about these and additional authors attending the 18th Annual Louisiana Book Festival, too numerous to mention here, visit the Featured Authors, Panelists, and Other Participants webpage to link to a page on each and their featured work.

One Book, One Festivalinvites attendees to read the same title in advance and later join the scholar-led discussion with others during the festival. To celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Broadway premiere of Tennessee Williams’s A Streetcar Named Desire, festival favorite Dr. Gary Richards returns to lead this “Stella” discussion.

Lagniappe events are also a part of the festival. “Poetry-to-Order” returns to the lobby of the State Library where poets GennaRose Nethercott and Cassandra de Alba will compose free custom poetry written on a topic of the festival attendee’s choice, typed on vintage typewriters, and given to the individual as a one-of-a-kind souvenir of the festival. Also in the State Library will be Kheris Rogers’s Flexin’ In My Complexion Fashion Exhibit. Kheris is a teen entrepreneur who started the viral apparel brand and movement after being bullied in school for her dark skin complexion. Also, the LSU Print Guild from the LSU School of Art will demonstrate several papermaking and printmaking techniques.

All featured titles will be available for purchase at the book tent run by the independent Cavalier House Books of Denham Springs, where featured authors are scheduled for book signings. Festival T-shirts, mugs, pins, and collectible posters featuring Nonney Oddlokken’s “Magic in the Bayou Atheneum” will also be on sale at the festival.

For more information, including how to register for WordShops, writing workshops to be held the Friday before the festival, to view the at-a-glance schedule with author and panel listings, or to sign up to volunteer and receive a free festival t-shirt, please visit www.LouisianaBookFestival.org and follow us on Facebook.

The Louisiana Center for the Book, established in the State Library of Louisiana in 1994 for the purpose of stimulating public interest in reading, books, literacy, and libraries and celebrating Louisiana’s rich literary heritage, is the state affiliate of the Library of Congress Center for the Book.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:
Barry Landry
Department of Culture, Recreation & Tourism
225-342-7009
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Veronica Mosgrove
Office of the Lieutenant Governor
225-342-7009
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Narrative 4 and the National Student Poets Program celebrate tenth anniversaries in Baton Rouge

BATON ROUGE, La. – The Louisiana Book Festival is honored to have been selected for the tenth anniversary celebrations of two esteemed organizations, Narrative 4 and the National Student Poets Program, on Saturday, October 29, in Baton Rouge.

“It is a privilege to welcome these two organizations to the Louisiana Book Festival to help them celebrate their tenth anniversaries. It truly is a testament to the reputation of quality and excellence the Louisiana Book Festival has built on a national level throughout its existence,” said Lieutenant Governor Billy Nungesser.

Narrative 4’s co-founder, Colum McCann, winner of the National Book Award for Let the Great World Spin, joins members of N4’s Artists Network for the global launch of N4’s yearlong celebration of its first decade. The program will include a tribute to Louisiana founding member Darrell Bourque, twice the Louisiana Poet Laureate.

The goal of Narrative 4 is to build empathy and community through the power of shared storytelling, enabling young people to learn and lead with curiosity, deep listening, and imagination.

Felice Belle (Viscera, forthcoming), N4 Director of Marketing and Communications, will moderate a program titled “We Are the Stories We Tell” featuring Colum McCann (Aperiogon), N4 Artists Network Director and author Ru Freman (Sleeping Alone), Dolen Perkins-Valsez (Take My Hand), and Louisiana members Maurice Carlos Ruffin (The Ones Who Don’t Say They Love You), and Darrell Bourque (migraré).

The program will also include photographer and journalist Elliott Woods, host of Third Squad: After Afghanistan, winner of a 2022 National Edward R. Murrow Award. Louisiana poet Dean Thomas Ellis (Far Flung), an N4 Artist, will be appearing at the festival on a poetry panel hosted by Louisiana Poet Laureate Mona Lisa Saloy, as will Belle; and N4 cofounder Lisa Consiglio will also be in attendance. Other panel participants will be appearing at additional programs discussing their recent work.

The Louisiana Book Festival was also chosen to host the National Student Poets Program (NSPP) celebrating ten years of youth poetry and service. All of the Class of 2022 youth poets chosen to represent the five national geographical regions are coming together at the festival for the first time since their appointment ceremony with First Lady Jill Biden in Washington, D.C., last month. This is the only event at which the cohort of five student poets will appear together during the fall.

The 2022 National Student Poets are Jesse Begay (Southwest), Sante Fe, NM; Winslow Hastie, Jr. (Southeast), North Charleston, SC; Vidhatrie Keetha (Northeast) Bronx, NY; Emily Igwike (Midwest), Milwaukee, WI; and Diane Sun (West), Bellevue, WA. Joining them will be Hannah Jones, National Student Poets Program Manager, Alliance for Young Artists & Writers/Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, and Dennis Nangle, Senior Program Officer, Grants to States, representing the Institute of Museum and Library Services, which provide funding support for NSPP.

The Institute of Museum and Library Services and the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers are partnering together to present the National Student Poets Program, the country’s highest honor for youth poets presenting original work. Five outstanding high school poets whose work exhibits exceptional creativity, dedication to craft, and promise, are selected annually for a year of service as national poetry ambassadors. The Program believes in the power of youth voices to create and sustain meaningful change, and supports them in being heard.

The Louisiana Center for the Book, established in the State Library of Louisiana in 1994 for the purpose of stimulating public interest in reading, books, literacy, and libraries and celebrating Louisiana’s rich literary heritage, is the state affiliate of the Library of Congress Center for the Book.

Visit www.LouisianaBookFestival.org and follow us on Facebook for more information about these participants and their appearance times and locations, as well as information about all the other authors and participants to be featured at this year’s festival on Saturday, October 29.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:
Barry Landry
Department of Culture, Recreation & Tourism
225-342-7009
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Veronica Mosgrove
Office of the Lieutenant Governor
225-342-7009
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it