Vermilion Parish NAACP claims library director banned them from meeting, director clarifies policies

Rodricka Taylor
·3 min read

ABBEVILLE, La. (KLFY)– News 10 received information from a member of the Vermilion Parish NAACP who claimed Charlotte Bourg, the Vermilion Parish library director, banned them from using the meeting rooms which affects an event they have coming up in May.

“In this particular situation, an organization was not banned from using the meeting rooms,” Bourg said. “It was simply a person. They were not allowed to use it for this particular event. The library is open to everyone. We want people to come and use the library but we do have rules and policies that the board has put in place to ensure equal access.”

One of those policies states that there can be no exchange of funds. Bourg said everything has to be free and open to the public. Thus the particular event that the organization wanted to do required collecting money which is not allowed for any group. The policy states the Vermilion Parish Library, Vermilion Parish Library Foundation and Vermilion Parish Library Friends Group are the only organizations that can hold fundraising activities with the proceeds to directly benefit the library system and/or the library’s programs.

Bourg who has been with the library for about four and a half years said the first revision in 2009 was on Dec. 9, and the most recent revision was on Nov. 1, 2022. The library director said this incident has her reminding people of the policy and people have to sign a form saying that they understand the policy.

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“If they wanted to meet to organize it, that would be awesome; that would be perfect,” Bourg suggested. “I do need to go over the rules with them when they sign up. They would need to go over the rules and acknowledge those policies but there can’t be any exchange of money and this is across the board for any group that wants to use the library.”

Bourg suggested speaking to local churches or other places in the community they might have to rent out for future references, if it is an event where money is needed to be collected or exchanged. She added they can provide information if needed.

“Meeting rooms are mostly for library use and programming, but when we’re not using them, we want to let civic organizations, and nonprofits, be able to use these facilities for their meetings,” she said. “Organizational meetings, just monthly meetings, weekly meetings, even but we do have some of the rules like you can’t book more than three months out. What that does is that it keeps certain organizations who may be meeting weekly from taking up the meeting rooms all year long. [Then,] no one’s allowed to use the meeting room or Tuesday night because this one group has overtaken it.”

Also, there are rules regarding food. You can’t have a full buffet meal, and no red drinks to protect the facility itself. Also if someone has a meeting after hours, you have to check out a key and follow certain policies regarding how to check that out, and how to return it.

“I just want everyone to know that the library is for everyone,” Bourg said. “I want the library to be a place where anyone can come in here and feel like they belong. It doesn’t matter who you are or anything. Not all activities are appropriate for the library and we do have rules and policies for the safety of everyone and to ensure equitable access to everyone.”

News 10 reached out to the Vermilion Parish NAACP multiple times for comments and has not received an updated response since they requested coverage on the dispute. They informed us they are trying to get on the agenda for the library board meeting on May 7. Bourg said she is open to discussing the policies with anyone, and urges people to contact her.

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