By Jim Wilkerson
On Wednesday, Oct. 20, at the Lincoln Parish Library Board of Control Meeting, local leader, Pastor Earl Griffin, spoke to those present, urging them to keep the library open.
Griffin’s early childhood development was rooted, in part, in his local library in Grifton, North Carolina. “We had the five-and-dime, the hardware store, the grocery store, and the post office,” Griffin recalled. “We were a small community, and we needed the library. I read about the Great Wall of China and the Eiffel Tower. I loved reading about all these exotic places overseas. My imagination was ignited by all these books I read, and I became a student of history.”
“I think libraries are something that should be accessible to every child,” he concluded.
Griffin has lived in Louisiana since 2010 and has been a part of the Lincoln Parish Community since 2014. He served in the U.S. Army from 1973 to 1993, and after retiring he became a full-time pastor.
While in the Army, Griffin traveled frequently, both at home and abroad. He began his career by traveling to Panama enroute to Vietnam. However, before making his final trip to Vietnam, President Richard Nixon signed the Paris Peace Accords, thus cancelling Griffin’s deployment.
Griffin’s enlistment then took him to other countries, like Belgium and South Korea, fulfilling some of his childhood dreams to travel. He ultimately retired as a First Sergeant – the second highest enlisted rank in the Army.
After retiring in Augusta, Georgia, Griffin began preaching full-time and has put most of his effort into doing so ever since. “It’s been a fun-filled career and life,” he said.
Griffin just recently joined the Lincoln Parish Library marketing committee in the spring of 2021 and was surprised to find the library in jeopardy.
“I was shocked that the library wouldn’t be funded,” he said. “I asked Dr. Augusta Clark why the library tax did not pass. She told me it was some of the books that were put in the library,” Griffin explained. “I said, ‘Well, the library is more important than those books.’”
Griffin continued, “You are really going backwards instead of forward by getting rid of the library. There is nothing like having a hard book in your hand, and turning the pages, and taking the book with you.”
“I just encourage everyone to vote for the tax,” he ended.
The vote for the library millage renewal takes place on Saturday, Nov. 13. Early voting begins Saturday, Oct. 13.
For more about Pastor Griffin, visit his website at https://earlgriffinenterprises.com/about-me.
