We invest in our staff.  Did you know that when we are fully staffed Bossier Parish Libraries provides nearly 100 jobs right here in our communities?  [1/4]

In fact, since 2015 we have opened and staffed a new branch, created 19 additional jobs, and increased our overall salary budget by 37%. [2/4]

Paying our employees a livable wage to keep up with the growing demands of life is important to us. [3/4]

Investing in our staff with fair compensation, professional development, and training creates an environment where staff feel valued and are empowered to provide top-notch customer service to all library users. [4/4]

We invest in our resources.  Over the last 7 years we have increased our overall materials budget by 42%, allowing us to expand our offerings with state-of-the-art library materials. [1/5]

Thus far, since 2015, we have added 179,422 physical items to our shelves for you to use. Books, research databases, online classes, streaming movies, eBooks, eAudiobooks, board games, telescopes, and microscopes support the educational and leisure needs of our community. [2/5]

Lendable technology including laptops, tablets, and WiFi hotspots keeps everyone connected, wherever they may be. [3/5]

Our digital offerings support our military communities by allowing our service members and their families access to their home library while deployed. Our small business resources and research appointments directly support our local entrepreneur community. [4/5]

We answer an average of 74k research questions per year; our digital resources and databases support nearly 75k research sessions per year; and we lend over 1,200 physical and digital items per day to support educational, recreational, and lifelong learning. [5/5]

We invest in our infrastructure.  We operate and maintain seven libraries and one history center throughout the parish.  In addition to regular maintenance to buildings, we have carefully saved 12 million dollars to be used toward current and upcoming capital projects. [1/9]

Such as: the new central library and history center that is currently under construction and our upcoming new Haughton branch. Saving this money has allowed us the ability to pay for these projects without having to ask tax payers for more money or take out a loan. [2/9]

These capital projects are the result of growing library usage, community needs assessments, and feedback from staff and community focus groups. [3/9]

In talking about infrastructure, we would be remiss not to mention the advancement of our technological infrastructure over the last several years. [4/9]

Our technological infrastructure was integral during the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic as people suddenly found themselves in need of internet access from home so they could continue working and students could continue with school requirements. [5/9]

Making WiFi available from our parking lots allowed us to continue to meet the needs of our community until we could reopen our doors. [6/9]

In 2021 we completed a fiber optic internet upgrade, an upgrade for our internal communication platform, installed tablet hublet stations at our Central Library and Benton Branch, and began making plans for 2022 and beyond. [7/9]

Including exciting state-of-the-art technologies in our new Central Library such as 3D printers, sewing machines, recording and film equipment, and more! [8/9]

Additionally, we are working on a system-wide initiative to upgrade all public-use computers by the end of 2022. [9/9]

Do you have trouble focusing or easily overwhelmed by your to-do list? Join us for a talk with author #DavidAllen on July 14th at 11AM in a live-streamed conversation followed by a Q&A. #GTD #GTDMethod #GettingThingsDone Registration required ⬇️ libraryc.org/bossierlibrary

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