"Mission
"The mission of the East Baton Rouge Parish Library is to provide parish-wide public library service to a diverse population through collections of books, periodicals, electronic databases, online services, non-print materials, exhibitions and programs."

What the mission statement comes down to is that the system is an auxiliary educational institution whose primary purpose is to provide educational materials, programs, and facilities for its citizenry. There is nothing in the mission statement about economic development--not for the parish as a whole, and certainly not for one preferred service area.

The citizens of the entire parish voted a tax upon themselves to finance the library system, and these dedicated library taxes should be spent equitably throughout the parish for the purposes set forth in the system's mission statement.

So, what is an equitable amount that should be spent on a River Center Branch (RCB)? Let's just say that the population of the downtown service area would have to double in order to justify the square footage of only the first two floors of the current RCB. Whatever dollar amount it would take to effect needed updating for a population-justified size is how much library tax money should be spent on such a project. Anything over that amount spent to glitzify it and make it a longed-for "Build It and They Will Come" tourist attraction should be funded privately.