By T. Scott Boatright
The Lincoln Parish Library (LPL) Board of Control approved closure of the LPL for two days in early December as a main order of business during Thursday’s monthly meeting held in the Jack Beard Community Room of the library.
Those Monday and Tuesday closures (Dec 5-6) are being made to allow the LPL to convert to an Integrated Library System System and give staff members time to receive training on how to use it.
An integrated library system (ILS) consists of a series of interconnected operations that streamline input and retrieval of information for both information professionals and researchers.
“It’s not a full eight hours of conversion and training each day, but we can use the extra time to put stuff on shelves and that kind of thing,” said LPL Director Jeremy Bolom. “The person who will be doing the installation and training said she could accommodate it in one day if needed but would need that day to be closed would be Tuesday. It would be weird to be open Monday and closed on Tuesday with all of that going on, but she said Tuesday would need to be the day to be closed if she would have to change the training schedule up.”
The LPL Board also approved a motion for the library to close at 6 p.m. on Dec. 15 (Thursday) to allow staff members to attend the Lincoln Parish Police Jury Christmas party. The LPPJ owes the library property and oversees its operation.
Also approved was a 2023 budget to be presented to the LPPJ for its approval during its December meeting.
“The budget was projected for 10 years before the last millage election so that once the millage passed, the amount we were asking for would allow us to survive for those 10 years,” Bolom said. “The budget increases 2.5% each year as we go. The increase for the new budget is only 2%, so we’re already going to be saving a little bit of money.”
Bolom said the LPL is ending the current fiscal year with around a $292,113 reserve balance this year. LPL Board Member Richard Durrett explained what the reserve balance will mean for the future.
“That 10-year budget set things up for higher reserve balances the first five years and will help us continue for the next five years after that before a new millage election,” Durrett said.
Bolom said salary and wages for the new budget are up 2% and based on the raises approved by the Police Jury for its workers.
“We did increase traveling and training funding as well as dues because now that COVID is over we hope there will be more opportunities to do those kinds of things,” Bolom said.
Bolom said the LPL is “way over” projected fines for the current fiscal year.
“We’re almost double of what we had projected to bring in on fines this year,” Bolom said.
