OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

St. Charles Parish Library Board of Control Meeting - January 20, 2026

Parish Council & Boards — Tuesday, January 20, 2026
BodySt Charles Parish, Louisiana
SessionParish Council & Boards
DateTuesday, January 20, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 58:59

Transcript — Verbatim
0:00

Oh the other I'd like to call the order of St.

0:09

Charles Parish Library Board of Control meeting for January 20, 2026.

0:13

If we can stay in with a moment of silence and a fledge after the United States of America and the visible student justice for all.

0:39

I think Miss Leanne has already circulated the minutes.

0:42

Everybody should have a copy.

0:48

Is there two meetings?

0:56

We need to um does it can I get a motion for the approval of the minutes for November 18th and December 17th of 2025?

1:10

I'll approve the I'll approve it.

1:12

The motion.

1:13

Make a motion.

1:13

Yes.

1:15

I'll second.

1:16

Who seconded it?

1:17

Okay.

1:19

Okay.

1:19

Give me just a moment.

1:20

Let me get uh set up for you.

1:49

Okay.

1:53

Okay.

1:54

And that motion passes.

2:04

He didn't together.

2:07

We had a special meeting December 17th.

2:12

Uh this time we'll have uh public comment.

2:16

We don't have any scheduled.

2:18

No scheduled public comment moving right along.

2:21

Miss Leanne in the librarian's report.

2:27

Hey, happy new year, everybody.

2:30

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday.

2:32

Um so we kicked off the thousand books before kindergarten program at the beginning of January.

2:38

And as of January twelfth, we have had 33 children already signed up for it.

2:43

As I mentioned at our November meeting, A Thousand Books Before Kindergarten is a reading program that encourages parents and caregivers to read a thousand books with their children before they start kindergarten.

2:53

And the goal is to help children develop early literacy skills like speaking, listening, and communicating, and to build their confidence as readers.

3:00

It can also help parents and children bond through reading.

3:04

When signing up, parents or caregivers will receive a packet that includes a fun booklet that can be used to track the number of books read and for every a hundred books read, the children can come to the library to receive a milestone sticker and a prize.

3:18

When they reach a thousand books, they'll receive a completion prize.

3:21

Parents and care caregivers can find more information on our website at my scpl.org slash a thousand books.

3:30

So we're really excited to get this program started.

3:33

The library was closed on December 5th for an all-staff training day.

3:37

This was also the day the of the kickoff for the Americans and the Holocaust exhibit.

3:42

So staff spent the morning learning more about the exhibit by experiencing the field trip experience that students who would be visiting would go through.

3:50

We also handed out service awards and then staff spent the afternoon working on spec special projects at their branches.

3:56

That evening we held the opening reception for the exhibit, which was attended by 60 patrons.

4:02

We want to say special thanks to the friends of the library for providing refreshments and helping out with the reception.

4:18

And it was very successful and brought lots of patrons to the library.

4:22

We hosted field trips for 982 students and 106 chaperones and school administrators from six St.

4:30

Charles Parish public schools, two private schools, home school groups, and a Girl Scout group.

4:36

There were 23 library staff members who helped run field trip stations and the National World War II Museum Education Department hosted a station, bringing two or three members of their team to engage with the students.

4:49

We also hosted nine different programs in conjunction conjunction with the exhibit with 241 in attendance at those.

5:00

In addition to the programs and field trips, we complemented the exhibit with a local artifact display curated by the Museum of the Southern Jewish Experience.

5:08

We featured two book displays and a local history display curated by Rachel Alleman, who's one of our staff members, that featured local servicemen and women as well as local news headlines from that time.

5:21

We offered passive programming through the butterfly project, which served as a reflection area and another way for patrons to engage with the topic and themes.

5:30

The butterfly plot project allowed us to engage the St.

5:33

Charles Art Guild for elevated pieces of art to get our project started, and visitors to the area could create their own butterfly with provided templates and colors.

5:43

On November 8th, the National World War II Museum hosted a professional development day for educators at the East Regional Library.

5:51

This workshop was led by World War II Museum staff, Angel Meltz, MPA teacher outreach specialist, and Sarah Welledge, uh assistant director of teacher programs.

6:02

All in all, it was a great experience, and we received great feedback from people who attended.

6:07

I'd like to take a moment to thank our adult programming and outreach librarian Maria Bellello and our assistant director Lauren Pitts, along with all of our staff members who helped make it so successful.

6:18

This was truly a team effort that went into the exhibit and the programming that we did for it.

6:24

So very proud of them for the work that they did, especially considering it happened amidst the Christmas and New Year's holidays.

6:34

In staffing news, we have several internal staff changes happening this month.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Engineering And Infrastructure█████████████████████████████████████████████50%
Procedural██████████████████20%
Technology and Innovation████████9%
Procurement Management███████8%
Education█████6%
Pending Litigation█████5%
Personnel Matters██2%
Summary of Proceedings

St. Charles Parish Library Board of Control Meeting - January 20, 2026

The St. Charles Parish Library Board of Control met on January 20, 2026, at 6:00 PM in the Council Chambers of the Courthouse. The meeting covered approval of previous minutes, a librarian's report with program updates and staffing changes, unfinished business including Hurricane Ida recovery and the Hahnville Branch Library project, and new business including election of officers and approval of the Louisiana Compliance Questionnaire. All votes were unanimous.

Consent Calendar

  • Approval of Minutes: The minutes from November 18, 2025, and December 17, 2025 (special meeting) were approved by a motion.

Public Comments & Testimony

  • No public comments were scheduled or received during either public comment period.

Librarian's Report

  • Thousand Books Before Kindergarten Program: Launched in January 2026; as of January 12, 33 children had signed up. The program encourages reading 1,000 books before kindergarten to develop early literacy skills. Participants receive milestone stickers and prizes.
  • Americans and the Holocaust Exhibit: The library closed on December 5, 2025, for an all-staff training day that also served as the kickoff for the exhibit. The opening reception was attended by 60 patrons. The library hosted field trips for 982 students and 106 chaperones from 6 St. Charles Parish public schools, 2 private schools, homeschool groups, and a Girl Scout group. 23 library staff and National World War II Museum education staff ran stations. Nine associated programs had 241 attendees. The exhibit was complemented by a local artifact display, book displays, a local history display, and the butterfly project with the St. Charles Art Guild.
  • Professional Development for Educators: On November 8, 2025, the National World War II Museum hosted a workshop at the East Regional Library.
  • Staffing Changes:
    • Brenda Gilliatt retired on January 5, 2026, after 16 years of service.
    • Claire Sermack retired on January 30, 2026, after more than 50 years of service.
    • Destiny Clement (formerly circulation supervisor at Hahnville) will replace Claire as circulation supervisor at West Regional Library.
    • Francesca Landry (full-time circulation assistant) promoted to circulation supervisor at Hahnville.
    • Monica LeBlanc (part-time) promoted to full-time circulation assistant at Parity.

Unfinished Business

  • Hurricane Ida Recovery Update: The library received $293,431.94 from an insurance settlement, bringing total insurance reimbursement to $402,001.94, plus $60,420.97 from FEMA. Total building repair expenses were $1,495,014.96, resulting in a net loss of over $1 million. The matter is now closed.
  • Hahnville Branch Library Project Update:
    • Design Presentation: Architect Justin presented updated renderings for the 12,400-square-foot library. The floor plan includes a lobby, meeting room (capacity 50 seated), patron area with circulation desk, children's area, adult collection, Louisiana collection, teen area, and administrative spaces. Finishes emphasize durability, acoustics, and timeless design. Exterior features impact-resistant glass (rated for 135 mph winds) and metal roof. The design includes interior finishes such as porcelain tile, solution-dyed nylon carpet, acoustical wood ceiling, and quartz desk surfaces. The project is at 60% design, with 90% design expected by February 4, 2026.
    • Early Release Package: Woodward (CMAR) presented a proposal for early site work to be completed before the main construction contract. Scope includes site clearing, demolition, temporary fencing, surcharge program (2.5 feet of dirt on the building pad), test pile program, stormwater pollution prevention, earthwork, storm drainage, utilities, and a building permit allowance (~$55,000). The board unanimously approved the early release package.

New Business

  • Election of Board Officers:
    • President: Beverly Delone was elected for the 2026 term.
    • Vice President: Mr. Mathern was elected for the 2026 term.
  • Louisiana Compliance Questionnaire (Resolution 26-1): The board unanimously approved Resolution 26-1, certifying that the library is in compliance with the Louisiana Compliance Questionnaire for the period January 1, 2025, to December 31, 2025.

Key Outcomes

  • Approved minutes from November 18, 2025, and December 17, 2025 (unanimous).
  • Approved the early release package for the Hahnville Branch Library project (unanimous).
  • Elected Beverly Delone as President and Mr. Mathern as Vice President for 2026 (unanimous).
  • Approved Resolution 26-1, Louisiana Compliance Questionnaire (unanimous).
  • Meeting adjourned.

Meeting Transcript

Oh the other I'd like to call the order of St. Charles Parish Library Board of Control meeting for January 20, 2026. If we can stay in with a moment of silence and a fledge after the United States of America and the visible student justice for all. I think Miss Leanne has already circulated the minutes. Everybody should have a copy. Is there two meetings? We need to um does it can I get a motion for the approval of the minutes for November 18th and December 17th of 2025? I'll approve the I'll approve it. The motion. Make a motion. Yes. I'll second. Who seconded it? Okay. Okay. Give me just a moment. Let me get uh set up for you. Okay. Okay. And that motion passes. He didn't together. We had a special meeting December 17th. Uh this time we'll have uh public comment. We don't have any scheduled. No scheduled public comment moving right along. Miss Leanne in the librarian's report. Hey, happy new year, everybody. I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday. Um so we kicked off the thousand books before kindergarten program at the beginning of January. And as of January twelfth, we have had 33 children already signed up for it. As I mentioned at our November meeting, A Thousand Books Before Kindergarten is a reading program that encourages parents and caregivers to read a thousand books with their children before they start kindergarten. And the goal is to help children develop early literacy skills like speaking, listening, and communicating, and to build their confidence as readers. It can also help parents and children bond through reading. When signing up, parents or caregivers will receive a packet that includes a fun booklet that can be used to track the number of books read and for every a hundred books read, the children can come to the library to receive a milestone sticker and a prize. When they reach a thousand books, they'll receive a completion prize. Parents and care caregivers can find more information on our website at my scpl.org slash a thousand books. So we're really excited to get this program started. The library was closed on December 5th for an all-staff training day. This was also the day the of the kickoff for the Americans and the Holocaust exhibit. So staff spent the morning learning more about the exhibit by experiencing the field trip experience that students who would be visiting would go through. We also handed out service awards and then staff spent the afternoon working on spec special projects at their branches. That evening we held the opening reception for the exhibit, which was attended by 60 patrons. We want to say special thanks to the friends of the library for providing refreshments and helping out with the reception. And it was very successful and brought lots of patrons to the library. We hosted field trips for 982 students and 106 chaperones and school administrators from six St. Charles Parish public schools, two private schools, home school groups, and a Girl Scout group. There were 23 library staff members who helped run field trip stations and the National World War II Museum Education Department hosted a station, bringing two or three members of their team to engage with the students. We also hosted nine different programs in conjunction conjunction with the exhibit with 241 in attendance at those. In addition to the programs and field trips, we complemented the exhibit with a local artifact display curated by the Museum of the Southern Jewish Experience. We featured two book displays and a local history display curated by Rachel Alleman, who's one of our staff members, that featured local servicemen and women as well as local news headlines from that time.

SUMMARIZED BY OPENPUBLICA AI
TRANSCRIPT VIA PUBLIC VIDEO
openpublica.com