By T. Scott Boatright
Approving a proposed holiday and closures schedule for 2026 was the primary order of business as the Lincoln Parish Library Board of Control held its September meeting on Thursday.
The library will close at 5 p.m. New Year’s Eve and will be closed on New Year’s Day, a Friday, and will also be closed Jan. 19 for Martin Luther King Jr. Day and on Feb. 16 for President’s Day.
On Easter weekend (April 3-5), the library will be closed all three of those days with staff being paid for either Friday or Saturday but not both.
The library will also be closed on May 25 for Memorial Day, June 19 for Juneteenth, and with Independence Day coming on a Saturday, the library will be closed on both June 4-5 with staff being paid for one but not both of those days.
On Sept, 7 the library will be closed for Labor Day and on Oct. 12 the LPL will not be open to the public for a professional development day.
The library will be closed on Nov. 11, a Wednesday, for Veteran’s Day, and will close at 5 p.m. on Nov. 25, the evening before Thanksgiving and will remain closed on Nov. 26-27.
After an early 6 p.m. closure on Dec. 10 to allow employees to attend the Lincoln Parish Police Jury, which oversees the LPL, Christmas party for parish employees, the library will be closed from Thursday, Dec. 24 (Christmas Eve) until the following Monday Dec. 28.
And to end the year, the library closes early, at 5 p.m., on Dec. 31 and will remain closed on Friday, Jan. 1, 2027, for New Year’s Day.
Board Trustee Bill Jones made the motion to approve the schedule with Richard Pyles seconding with all board members present voting in favor.
LPL Director Jeremy Bolom and Assistant Director Jessica Barrilleaux were not at the meeting as he was in Alburquerque, New Mexico, for an Association for Rural and Small Libraries Conference, but Business Manager Maria Goree served in Bolom’s usual role and announced to the board two new hires, Children’s Director Mary Aldredge and parttime worker Anna Clark.
The number of library visitors dropped in August but that was not a surprise as it happens yearly with the start of a new school year. But the August patronage total of 10,771 was still higher than January, February, and April of this year.
