By T. Scott Boatright
The Lincoln Parish Library (LPL) Board of Control approved a job description for an Events Center Coordinator and changes to Events Center policies as primary orders of business when they met Thursday at the LPL.
After the recent departure of former Events Center Director Marcie Nelson, LPL Director Jeremy Bolom has been doing double duty filling that role, too, since Nelson left to become executive director for the North Central Louisiana Arts Council.
Bolom told the Board of Control he would like to first advertise the position to in-house employees as an add-on role where that employee would temporarily add the role of Events Center Director for an additional $3.50 per hour to their salary. That dual role would be considered temporary because of an impending potential team-up with the Ruston Lincoln Convention and Visitors Bureau to take the Events Center in a different and more lucrative direction.
The LPL and CVB are currently considering the two entities teaming to manage the Events Center with a goal of increasing usage to bring in more revenue from rentals.
Bolom said if that is the route taken to temporarily fill the position, then the LPL employee would work in a “flex-time” role to stay as near to a 40-hour work week as possible with him assisting with the Events Center when necessary to try and make that happen.
The LPL Board voted 7-0 to approve that new temporary job description. Board member Deborah Gilliam was absent and member Eric McCullough wasn’t present for the vote but did join the meeting around halfway through.
It was the first meeting for new LPL Board of Control member Richard Pyles.
Bolom said he would prefer the employee that fills the role to have at least five years experience working at the LPL because that would mean that person would have some experience also working with Events Center duties as was done in the past.
The LPL Board of Control also unanimously approved a motion to make changes to Events Center policies.
Those changes include removing a restriction to enforce no admission charges during rented Events Centers events, increasing the number of days a room at the Events Center can be rented from 30 to 40 and to no longer use the Grambling Room at the Events Center for rental use.
The Board also discussed rental fees at the Events Center and agreed to come back and consider possible hikes to those fees during its July meeting.
Also discussed was the charging of sale tax fees to Event Center rentals, with the Board agreeing to clarify language with the Lincoln Parish Sales and Use Tax Office to see if sales tax forms should be required.
Another change was the addition of rental fees for LPL equipment used during Events Center rentals – a $10 easel fee and a $20 whiteboard fee.
Bolom said more changes to Events Center policies will likely be forthcoming/
“This is just the first little stab at fixing what needs to be fixed,” Bolom said.
He also said that while policies need to be set and in place, they won’t necessarily always be the final determining factor.
“There’s a clause in there that will stay saying the (LPL) Director can override all decisions when needed,” Bolom said.
Events Center policy changes approved by the LPL Board of Control during Thursday’s meeting will go into effect starting on Monday.
Bolom said he also will need to find a replacement for Nelson as LPL Children’s Director.
“We need to get that done by August,” Bolom said. “Right now I have three in-house candidates and three outside candidates who have expressed interest in that position.”
