In 1956, Vernon Parish was at the beginning of what would become an important part of our community’s history: the development of a parish-wide public library system. The Vernon Parish Library was created through Louisiana’s long-running library “demonstration” program, which was designed to bring library services to communities that did not yet have a public library of their own. This approach was especially important in rural parishes, where residents needed access to books, information, and professional library services but local communities did not always have the funding or public support needed to establish a permanent system right away.
The idea behind the demonstration program was actually pretty simple. Give a community the chance to experience what a public library could offer, allow residents to see the value it could bring to their families and communities, and then encourage local citizens to support the funding needed to keep those services going. In many ways, the demonstration allowed people to see firsthand that a library could be much more than just a place filled with books. It could become a resource for education, connection, and opportunity.
Planning the Vernon Parish demonstration required cooperation between local government officials, community leaders, and the Louisiana State Library. In November 1956, residents of Vernon Parish were invited to attend a public meeting sponsored by the Vernon Parish Police Jury. James L. Love, chairman of the Louisiana State Board, and Essae M. Culver, Louisiana’s State Librarian, took part in the meeting and explained how the library demonstration would work and what it could mean for the parish.
A local library board was also formed, with representatives from communities across Vernon Parish, including Leesville, Rosepine, Anacoco, Simpson, and Temple. I think this is an especially important part of the library’s history because it shows that the goal was never to create a library that only served the people living in Leesville. From the very beginning, the vision was to provide library services to people throughout Vernon Parish, including residents living in smaller and more rural communities.
The physical planning for the library was practical as well. Instead of waiting for the money and time needed to construct a brand-new library building, the first library was planned for space inside the Vernon Parish Courthouse that had recently been vacated by the Parish School Board. Using an existing public building allowed the demonstration to begin much sooner and gave residents the opportunity to start using library services without waiting for a permanent facility to be built.
The Louisiana State Library also provided many of the resources needed to make the demonstration possible. According to the historical account preserved by Vernon Parish Library, the State Library planned to provide approximately 9,000 books along with subscriptions to around 80 magazines and periodicals. For a rural parish in 1956, that would have opened the door to a tremendous amount of information, education, and entertainment that many residents may not have had easy access to before.
One of the most important parts of the demonstration was the bookmobile. Because Vernon Parish covers a large rural area, not everyone could easily travel to Leesville to visit the courthouse library. The bookmobile helped solve that problem by taking library materials directly into communities throughout the parish. Residents who lived miles away from the main library could still borrow books and magazines and benefit from the new library system. That commitment to reaching people where they were helped establish the idea that Vernon Parish Library belonged to the entire parish, not just the community where the main library happened to be located.
Nancy K. Williams
Children’s Librarian
Vernon Parish Library
Empower Library Handbook
Vernon Parish Journal: In Remembrance: Mattie Faye Manes