Among the most hotly contested items on this week’s ballot is that of the property tax levied on behalf of the Sabine Parish Library, which offers a plethora of services not only at their main branch in Many, but also their numerous other branches that are both open and re-opening in Sabineland.
The tax itself is called for 4 mills, which is down from the 5.27 mills from 10 year ago. That equals out to $15.70 per household whose property is valued at $216,315 on 1 ¼ acre. Previously, the household paid $23.93 per year. Households utilizing homestead exemption pays no tax.
“If a household borrows three books and two movies per year, you’ve got back what you paid for the library to function,” said Debbie Anderson, librarian. “The small price paid doesn’t just extend to movies and books, as the library is for life-long learning and education, so we have plenty of other offerings.
In October alone, the library offered a variety of programs including Book Buddies, Armchair Travel club, Creative Kids, an elder fraud seminar, air fryer cookery class, Magic: The Gathering play, and other offerings. During the first week of November, a special American Girl themed party is planned in Many, along with other services.
Sadly, many of their programs are constrained by the aging library building itself.
“We get requests for many services that simply aren’t accessible for us,” Anderson said.
Anderson also points toward the construction of a new, state-of-theart library in the future, which offers modern amenities such as dedicated meeting spaces, research areas, expanded access, and proper storage of historical documents.
“To move into the future we’ve got to modernize,” Anderson explains.
She points out that a remodel of the existing facility simply would not work due to both location and changes in procedures over the years. For instance, unprotected historical documents at the current library will continue a deterioration process due to climate and lack of proper storage methods.
“Remodeling this facility puts us right back where we are now,” she explains. “Libraries should constantly evolve to meet the needs of its community and patrons.” Internet access is one of the definitive features of the modern library, and in this area creates an important access point due to the grossly inadequate state of service provided in Sabine. Actual wired internet has never been up to current standards in the parish, with large swaths isolated from what has quickly become a household utility. Large areas of the parish also receive no reliable data services from mobile providers even using the most expensive, current model of phone. The library offers 27/7 access via wifi and connected workstations in the facility itself.
Not having a library could be quite tragic, as if the Sabine funding collapses it will be the only one of the Louisiana parishes which does not have such facilities in place.