The Acadiana area is known for authors and artists who create colorful pieces of art. Each year the Evangeline Parish Library showcases this art at its Book Fest which takes place at the main branch in Ville Platte.
According to Outreach Director Suzy Lemoine, the Book Fest is sponsored by the Friends of the Library. “Friends of the Library really got together and wanted to give back to the community,” she explained. “We had all these books that had been withdrawn from the library over the years, so we decided to give our patrons an opportunity to build their own libraries at home.”
“Book Fest also began when our director Mary (Foster Galasso) came up with the idea of making it a fun and festive event,” Lemoine continued. “She applied for one of the first Acadian Center for the Arts Decentralized Funding Arts Grant. There was money available, so we decided if we can hire these really unusual artists or performers and get some assistance from the state, then maybe more people will come to this event.”
Many local authors will be on hand for this year’s Book Fest, and local artists will have a chance to display some of their crafts. “We have three young people who are selling either jewelry that they have made or bath salts or candles,” Lemoine said. “This year it happens to be the opening of Squirrel Weekend. The women like to shop when the men are gone, so that way I want to push the jewelry and the Christmas kind of stuff that some people are going to be selling at Book Fest.”
Lemoine uses her roots to reach out to other areas in Acadiana to promote the library and the Book Fest. She is a native of St. Martinville and has deep roots to Ville Platte and Evangeline Parish. “My mother is Laura Jane Guillory,” she said. “She was the daughter of the first district attorney of the parish Herman Guillory, and he was the son of one of our founding fathers O. E. Guillory, who was the first clerk of court when the parish was established in 1911. He was one of those rogue divisionists who wanted to break away from Imperial St. Landry Parish.”
“All of that started around 1898, and it took them until 1910 to get the legislation to create Evangeline Parish when they ceded from Imperial St. Landry Parish. My roots go back to the founding of Evangeline Parish, and I’m very proud of that. I feel a tremendous obligation to those who came before me to continue to be involved in the community and try to help it grow.”
She has been helping Evangeline Parish Library grow while serving as outreach director since 2001. “It is my responsibility to get the word out about what the library has to offer,” said Lemoine.
What the library has to offer is not just about books, according to Lemoine. “We’re trying to get the word out that we have stuff going on every day at the library for folks who might have nothing else going on in the afternoons,” she said.
“We do crafting on Tuesday nights. We’re now offering a little French program on Monday afternoons, and then on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons we have this Mother Goose opportunity for kids to have books read to them. We have Spanish on Wednesdays, and on Fridays we have TumbleBooks.”
As outreach director, Lemoine also services the five branches around the parish that each offers unique opportunities to meet the needs of their patrons.
“Mamou has an older population that hangs out at the library,” said Lemoine. “Angie Henry is the branch manager there, and she started this Book-n-a-Bag. She encourages her patrons to read 30 books, and after 30 books they can earn up to five book bags.”
“Basile totally engages its older population with a puzzle making opportunity,” added Lemoine. “They have puzzles going on all the time, and they also do children’s programming every other Thursday.”
Lemoine called the branch in Chataignier an undiscovered little gem. “We were behind the village hall, and it just didn’t get a lot of use,” she said. “We recently decided to relocate to a more visible spot, and the police jury just approved the purchase of some property right on the corner of La. 29 and 1st Street next to the post office and the police station. In the very near future, we’ll begin breaking ground and building a nice brand new facility. I think Chataignier is going to gain a lot.”
She also explained what the branches offer in the northern part of the parish. “Turkey Creek has a unique population, so the branch manager there Tina King does programs that are pertinent to the interest of those people,” Lemoine said. “Pine Prairie has a coffee club. Every morning people can go there, and there’s a group of coffee people. They talk genealogy and politics. It’s a social environment, and it’s not just a book reading library.”
As well as at the Pine Prairie Branch, the main branch of the library in Ville Platte attracts those patrons who are interested in genealogy. “We have an outstanding genealogy collection,” said Lemoine. “We hear that from the genealogists who come to our quarterly genealogy meetings of the Evangeline Historical and Genealogical Society.”
The job of outreach director of the Evangeline Parish Library is very special for Lemoine. As she stated, “This is my little piece of heaven, and I love coming here every day. I have this affinity of the library because it’s always been a safe quiet comfortable loving place, and I think people will find that whenever they come to any of our branches.”