Category: Uncategorized

All branches of the library that have not suffered storm damage will be open from 10 AM-6 PM through Saturday, and from 2-6PM on Sunday. The Baker Branch and the Greenwell Springs Road Regional Branch are closed for repairs.

Library workers are available to help you with FEMA documentation and other emergency response documents. We have recently created a Disaster Recovery Infoguide that contains information specific to this weekend’s flooding and will be updated as more information is released.

• You may wish to read FEMA’s “After the Flood” information sheet before beginning any household repairs; copies may be available at the reference desk of your branch.
• Two important website to have at your fingertips are:

1.  www.disasterassistance.gov

This website is for people seeking Federal assistance from FEMA. There is a registration process. The contact phone is 1-800-621-3362. The FEMA “Applicant’s Guide to the Individuals & Households Program” is here:

help_after_disaster_english

Copies should be available at the information desk at your branch.

2.  www.dcfs.louisiana.gov/index.cfm?md=pagebuilder&tmp=home&pid=360

This website is for those seeking disaster assistance from the Louisiana Department of Children & Family Services Disaster Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. It may be easier to Google Louisiana DSNAP to access the site. Again there is a registration process. The contact phone is 1-888-524-3578.

Typically initial information necessary to complete either of these registrations includes:

Name, social security number, and birth date for each household member
Parish where you currently live
Residential address
Monthly income for each household member
Liquid resources for each household member such as:
Cash on Hand
Checking Accounts
Savings Accounts
Certificates of Deposit (CDs)
Money Market Accounts

• The final acceptance date for federal tax returns due after August 15th has been pushed back to January 17th, 2017.
• The Advocate is publishing a running list of parish and state offices that are closed due to flooding, and their expected opening dates, if any have been published.
• Louisiana DOTD is maintaining a frequently updated map of road closures and areas that are still flooded.
• All open branches (again, that’s all of them but Baker and Greenwell Springs Road) are accepting donations of new socks in all sizes. Drop off your donations at the children’s desk of your local branch.
• BREC is opening emergency camps for children who are unable to attend school. The camps will be located at Independence, Highland, Jackson, Zachary Community Parks and T.D. Bickham Park in Baker, for a price of $14 a day or $50 per week where closures are expected to last for a longer period of time.

We are proud to be serving the community of Baton Rouge in this difficult time, and proud of our place in Southern Louisiana.

The library is closed for the Fourth of July. We will open tomorrow for regular hours.

Happy Independence Day, Baton Rouge!

If you are a teenager, or you know a teenager, or you have any concept of what “fun” is – y’all, this is so cool. You’re going to love it. Are you ready?

In June, four branches of the library will partner with Cajun Laser Tag to offer two hours of free laser tag to all teenagers who show up with a signed permission form. Forms are available at the Greenwell Springs Road, Bluebonnet, and Jones Creek Branches, and at the Main Library.

 

The dates and times are as follows:

• 1:30 – 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 31, Greenwell Springs Road Regional Branch
• 2:30 – 4:30 p.m. Thursday, June 2, Bluebonnet Regional Branch
• 2:30 – 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, June 7, Main Library at Goodwood
• 2:30 – 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, June 8, Jones Creek Regional Branch

After last week’s program on the genealogy of Huey P. Long, you probably want to look into your own family history. The library’s genealogy department can help, with free access to databases and online programs you can’t find anywhere else. (Well, you can find them. But they cost money.)

We’ve got your standard genealogy sites (those marked with an asterisk can only be accessed via library computers or on library wifi):

• Ancestry.com*
• Find My Past*
• Fold3
• HeritageQuest Online

resources dedicated to the unique challenges of tracing African American ancestry (check out our earlier blog post for more information!):

• African American Heritage
• Black Historical Newspapers
• Black Studies Center
• Free People of Color

and digital newspaper archives, which you can use to look up all the weird hijinks your relatives got up to once you find out who they were:

• a lot of them!

Not sure where to get started? Register for one of our genealogy classes, or get more information, by calling the genealogy department at (225) 231-3751.

Check out the Long genealogy presentation on the One Book, One Community 2016 infoguide, in the “State History” tab!

The Red Stick International Festival is coming this Saturday to a library near you! If you live near the Main Library on Goodwood, anyway. Check out our previous blog post and LSU’s event page for more information.

• Kids Lab, 10am – 3pm

Included activities: Exhibits by Knock Knock Children’s Museum, NASA /Stennis, Arduino showcase/ local school art creations; Lego lab; Minecraft showcase and live lab; and an Interactive art project on Library windows, and more. Ages 6 and up, minors need parent or guardian present.

Knock Knock Children’s Museum is partnering with LSU’s College of Human Sciences & Education, LSU College of Art & Design, and the LSU Center for Computation & Technology to transform the children’s storytelling rooms of the library into a playground of light, shadows and motion. Children will be delighted in using traditional materials to interact with light, color and images projected from digital devices.

Elevator Projects is having a make-your-own Star Wars costume party and Galactic Photobooth – check out their Facebook post for more information!

• Maker Expo, 1pm – 5pm

Venue provided by the East Baton Rouge Parish Library system. Electronic Arts  – featuring playable demos of game, Acadian Robotics,  the only 3D printer manufacturer in Louisiana,  LSU’s Digital Media Arts & Engineering program and featuring digital and technology makers from around the area .

• Cones & Drones, 5:30pm – 6:30pm

Enjoy free tasty sno-cones and a camera drone demonstration in the plaza.

• Movies on the Plaza, 6:30pm

Screening of STAR WARS – THE FORCE AWAKENS.

The Greenwell Springs Road branch is starting up a brand-new writers’ group. The next meeting will take place on Monday, March 21st, at 7:00 PM.

If Greenwell Springs Road isn’t your branch, check the events calendar for more writing groups at branches near you!

Are you interested in a career with the federal government right here in Louisiana? The federal government offers a variety of jobs, most with good pay and good benefits. Learn about local employment opportunities, careers, application procedures, and benefits of federal civil service.

The seminar will be presented by Bill Tyler, a retired Administrative Officer of the Southern Regional Research Center, a federal agency based in New Orleans.

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 16, 2016
11:30 A.M. – 1:00 P.M.
MAIN LIBRARY AT GOODWOOD BLVD.
LARGE MEETING ROOM, 1ST FLOOR

This is an informational seminar, not a job fair!

Registration is required. Please call (225) 231-3733 or register online.

…forgive us for editorializing, but: