Below you'll find sample texts for letters and phone calls you can make urging the Lafayette Parish Council to appoint library board members who are non-partisan, respect the separation of church and state, and are committed to a library governed by ethical library standards set forth by professional librarians.
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Feel free to take these words as suggestions and change them to suit your needs.
Library Board Appointment SAMPLE LETTER
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Email Addresses:
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Bryan Tabor, District 1: bryantabor@lafayettela.gov
Kevin Naquin, District 2: kevinnaquin@lafayettela.gov
Joshua Carlson, District 3: joshcarlson@lafayettela.gov
John Guilbeau, District 4: johnguilbeau@lafayettela.gov
AB Rubin, District 5: abrubin@lafayettela.gov
Dear Council Members,
I am writing to ask that you carefully consider your choice for the vacant seat on the Lafayette Public Library Board of Control, and that you appoint someone who will not only fulfill the role with integrity, but who will do so in a non-partisan manner, without a religious agenda.
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Freedom of religion is, of course, one of our fundamental rights in this country, but religion has no place on the governing board of a public library. Separation of church and state means that anyone, of any religion (or no religion at all) should feel that the public library is a place where information is freely available to access without restriction or judgement. As the library board of control is the governing body for our library, that philosophy should start with them.
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Library board members should represent ALL residents of the parish. Past appointments have shown that choosing board members based on religious or political affiliation is bad for our library, and bad for our community. I urge you to please look carefully at the resumes you have received, and choose a board member who is non-partisan, respects the separation of church and state, and is committed to a library governed by ethical library standards set forth by professional librarians.
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Sincerely,
Library Board Appointment
SAMPLE PHONE SCRIPT
Phone #: (337) 291-8800
My name is __________.
I'm calling to ask that the Parish Council please appoint someone to the library board of control who is non-partisan and without a religious agenda. Library board members should represent ALL residents of the parish, and those residents should feel that the library is a place where information is freely available to access. As the governing body for a public library, board members must adhere to the principle of the separation of church and state, and should be committed to a library governed by ethical library standards set forth by professional librarians. Please consider carefully.
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Thank you for your time.