"For almost a century, the goal of the State Library of Louisiana has been simple: to foster a love of books, literacy, and reading across the state. We started out traveling around Louisiana in a tiny bookmobile as we helped set up local libraries. Today, we continue this mission by providing consulting and assistance to libraries, statewide electronic resources, and our continuing education program. We’ve expanded the State Library’s reach by developing our Louisiana Collection and state documents collection and by coordinating the annual Louisiana Book Festival and making library services accessible to all through our Talking Books and Braille Library and institutional outreach. We are grateful for the LSTA funding that lets everyone benefit from these services."
-- Meg Placke, State Librarian, State Library of Louisiana

Louisiana Book Festival
The Louisiana Book Festival is the Louisiana Center for the Book’s primary event in achieving its mission to promote literacy, reading, and education, and to showcase Louisiana authors and its publishers. The annual festival was held virtually during the pandemic, which served as a model for how to safely continue local and regional festivals and programs across the state. The Louisiana Writer Award presentation, posted on the festival’s YouTube channel, featured recipient John Barry discussing his contributions to the literary heritage of Louisiana and his body of work, including The Great Influenza: The Story of the Deadliest Pandemic in History.  
IMLS Funds: $126,109 

Continuing Education and Support for Library Staff
The State Library of Louisiana provided continuing education opportunities, advice, and support to public library staff across the state. This training helped library staff, directors, and trustees deliver basic library services to their communities competently and effectively. The State Library offered a yearly continuing education schedule along with courses certified by the American Library Association-Allied Professional Association (ALA-APA) Library Support Staff Certification Program. Louisiana’s is the only state library agency in the country that teaches these courses and has more staff certified than any other state as a result. State Library consultants also helped public libraries develop policies, interpret library laws, and troubleshoot any other issues that arose.  
IMLS Funds: $292,373 

E-Rate Training and Support
The State Library of Louisiana provided advice, instruction, and support to public library staff in applying for discounts on telecommunication services, internet access, and internal connections through the E-Rate program. With these discounts, Louisiana public libraries offered free internet services, both wired and wireless, to their communities, increased bandwidth, and made technological infrastructure improvements. All of the main libraries in the state have an internet connection of at least 10 Mbps or more, a necessity for a state where nearly 25 percent of the population does not have home internet access. With the passage of the American Rescue Plan Act and additional funds for broadband through the Emergency Connectivity Fund, the State Library has also assisted libraries in understanding and applying for broadband services with this funding. 
Match Funds: $7,271