Billie Stevens: Wonder Librarian

It’s Women’s History month, and a perfect time to look back in our history and share the story of Bossier Parish Libraries’ very own Wonder Woman. Imagine a job ad like this, in the 1950’s: Wanted for Bossier Parish Libraries, a hard worker to perform the following duties: Put buckets under leaks, cut the tops off of large cans and nail them to cover holes in the floor, order books for all the schools in the Parish (in addition to all the public library books), take the bookmobile on unpaved roads to Rocky Mount or Chalybeate Springs, Red Land, Walker’s Chapel, or Mott, get that book mobile out of a ditch as needed, get back to Benton and type all the records of the circulated books and magazines, present children’s story hour, write a book review of the latest gardening book for the parish garden club meetings and home demonstration clubs, paint the walls and shelves, fix the plumbing and mow the grass (unless you want to pay your kid out of your own pocket to do it for you.) Sounds impossible? Though not a real job announcement, those were regular duties for Mrs. Billie Williams Stevens (1928-2017) of Benton, who worked for Bossier Parish Libraries from 1950 to 1984.  

Ms. Stevens was with the library almost from the beginning (the very first librarian was Elizabeth Williams). The library started in 1940 at the urging of the Bossier High School PTA as a demonstration library by the Louisiana Library Commission (now the State Library of Louisiana). It relied on library assistants who were from the Works Progress Administration, which was a federal employment program created by the Franklin Roosevelt administration to pull the U.S. out of the Great Depression. Bossier had never had a public library, although some books were donated to the courthouse for public use. The demonstration library system allowed the parish to experience the benefits of a public library for a year-long trial period. After which the parish would choose to either abandon the program or take over the library by accepting the state’s books and equipment. The Police Jury almost voted unanimously to adopt the library on June 12, 1941.  

Although World War II made the library visible as a “War Information Center,” dedicated funding for the library was thwarted by World War II. It limped along financially until 1947 when it was funded with a tax specifically for the library system. The library branches and locations when Ms. Stevens began her career were in Bossier City, Haughton, Benton, Plain Dealing and Elm Grove, plus a bookmobile. The Bossier City branch was at City Hall sharing space with the city court. The library could not open when court was in session, so the hours varied day-to-day. Library Headquarters, as it was called, was in Benton, in an old storefront. Elm Grove was in a one-room schoolhouse on the Elm Grove school campus, only open during school hours.  

The bookmobile, driven by Ms. Billie, was a very popular service to the parish in the 1950s. In that era,not everyone had cars, or certainly not two in a family. Ms. Billie grew up in the remote north BossierParish community of Wardview and was familiar with traveling for miles on sometimes muddy or washed-out roads. Not everyone had a TV and books were welcomed for entertainment. By the end of the 1960s, the demand for the bookmobile decreased. When the bookmobile broke down in 1968, Billie Stevens remembered, “so many women were going to work, and the new libraries were built and most of them were in distances that children could ride their bicycles.” The bookmobile service was retired then but the bookmobile itself became the parked library branch at Koran Station for several years. 

Bossier Parish Libraries no longer has a bookmobile, but we now have six libraries plus the Central Library and History Center complex.  We also have an outreach service for homebound patrons and places such as assisted living facilities. To see us in person, please visit the History Center at 2206 Beckett St, Bossier City, LA and are open M-Th 9-8, Fri 9-6, and Sat 9-5. Our phone number is (318) 746-7717 and our email is history-center@bossierlibrary. 

For other fun facts, photos, and videos, be sure to follow us @BPLHistoryCenter on FB, @bplhistorycenter on TikTok

Images: 

Koran Station branch of the Bossier Parish Library, housed in a red and white bookmobile. The bookmobile was operated from 1957 to Nov. 1967      1997.037.004 

Photo of Billie D. Williams Stevens, obituary, The Times 06 Dec 2017

Article by: Pam Carlisle

Bringing the Library to the Community

Librarians of the Bossier Demonstration Library project at the opening of the Benton Branch Library
20 Sep. 1940, Source: The Bossier Banner 26 Sep. 1940

Libraries are a quintessential part of how people learn and engage with their community. The arrival of public libraries gave Americans previously unprecedented access to books and other educational materials. They are open to all and focus on serving the needs of the general public.

At the core of the public library's mission is community access to its collections, which traditionally included books and periodicals. Today, public library collections include so much more. By adapting to and embracing technologies, libraries began including microfilm and taped recordings, and now they provide a large variety of digital collections, databases, and virtual programs.

A critical role in serving the public is through programmings such as educational classes, summer reading for kids, discussion groups, community events, and hosting concerts, art exhibitions, and gaming. Public libraries adapt to their communities' changing needs, not only with changing technologies but also during times of crisis such as wartimes, natural disasters, and pandemics.

Another vital role of the public library is outreach. Outreach allows librarians to put a friendly face on library services and to meet our patrons where they are—used to reach nonusers, infrequent users, and the underserved. Understanding that not every community member can come to the library, outreach involves providing services outside the library walls.

In an article for the American Libraries Magazine, Abby Johnson asserted, "Just as the community belongs in the library, the library belongs in the community." Often, a library's most critical work is the work done outside the library and in the community, where it can reach the underserved, nonusers, and infrequent users.

In the early 19th century, librarians reached rural communities by horseback or horse-drawn carriages to carry books and periodicals to patrons. With the automobile's introduction, motorized bookmobiles began appearing in 1920 but were not widespread until about 1942. Whether powered by a horse or by a motor, the bookmobile was and, in many communities, still is an excellent method of reaching out to community members that cannot reach the library.

Bossier Parish opened its first public library in 1940, starting with only four branches and a bookmobile to reach the parish's more rural communities. By 1952, the bookmobile was making 61 stops every two weeks. The bookmobile served our community's rural members for 28 years until mechanical issues, and the changing needs of its patrons took it out of commission.

The last operating BPL bookmobile c. 1968
Emma Pattillo Collection: 0000.011.010a

In 1977, the Bossier Parish Libraries once again bought a bookmobile, but this time it was used to create a new branch in the Koran community. A Louisiana State Library bookmobile scheduled for the junkyard was acquired by parish librarian Lynda M. Netherland. The state agreed to donate the retired bookmobile if the Bossier Parish Library would cover the transportation cost to relocate it to its new home. The repurposed bookmobile was used as the Koran branch until 1987 when a portable office building replaced it, quadrupling its book capacity.

Source: The Bossier Press-Tribune, Photo By: Tom Bryson

Outreach has always been an essential part of the Bossier Parish Library, which has always adapted to changing technologies and changing community needs. Today, we provide a delivery service we call BPL Delivers, offering services to homebound Bossier Parish residents who have a condition restricting their ability to leave their place of residence without assistance.

We also show up in places you love to be, like the Bossier Night Market, Bloom Festival, and other community events. We bring library materials and activities to local community groups such as after-school programs, nursing homes, schools, treatment facilities, and more. Our vision is to support the changing needs of Bossier Parish by re-evaluating community needs and seeking opportunities to enhance user experience.

For the past eighty-one years, the Bossier Parish Library has proudly provided access to various materials, programs, and technologies that enrich, educate, and inspire the residents of this great parish. To learn more about the Bossier Parish Library's history, visit the BPL History Center at 2206 Beckett Street, Bossier City.

By: Amy Robertson

Bossier Parish's First Librarian

Portrait of Mary Elisabeth Williams by A. Menosco.
Bossier Parish Library Collection: 2000.093.001.

Before the first Bossier Parish library opened its doors, Elisabeth Williams was already working behind the scene to establish the public library system in this parish. After earning her degree in Library Science from the University of Illinois, she began her career in Tennessee at the Cossitt Public Library in Memphis. Then she worked for the Louisiana Library Commission in Baton Rouge and opened and operated the demonstration library in Arcadia as the Bienville Parish librarian.

Opening and operating demonstration libraries involved much more than ordering, cataloging, and shelving books. A vital role as the head librarian was the promotion of the library. Williams would speak to groups of people throughout the parish to explain the importance of having a public library and how to obtain books.

At a Lions Club meeting, “She explained how this new service is being provided to the people of the entire parish – through branch libraries in Benton, Bossier City, Plain Dealing, Haughton and Elm Grove (the latter having been opened two weeks ago) and a regular weekly ‘bookmobile’ tour of the parish, covering 300 miles and serving all of the smaller communities of the parish.”

Elisabeth Williams (left) and Jessica Boatner (right) providing books to children
in Bossier Parish's first bookmobile. Source: The Shreveport Times, Feb. 14, 1941.

“She also explained that library service of this type costs about $15,000, or about a one-mill tax per year. This year, however, the service is being provided as a demonstration project, with the State Library Commission, the WPA and the Bossier Parish Police Jury cooperating.” She urged that the police jury be requested to vote a special tax to support the library, and she encouraged citizens to get behind the library to make it permanent.

With the demonstration period scheduled to end on Sept. 1, 1941, the Bossier Parish Police Jury felt the urgency to secure the public library’s continuance. On June 12, 1941, the following announcement appeared in the Bossier Banner. “The Bossier Parish Police Jury held a regular meeting, at the Court House, in Benton, Tuesday afternoon of this week, at which time it was voted to levy a half-mill tax, for 1941 and 1942, to continue the Bossier Parish Library system for more than a year.

“A delegation of more than 25 women and men, from every section of the parish, appeared before the Jury to speak in favor of the library. It was decided not to call a special one-mill tax election for the library’s support. Considerable discussion was had before the vote was taken and only one juror voted against the final motion.”

Williams continued as the head librarian of Bossier Parish until she retired in 1967. Before her retirement, she “went on to found the Red River Parish Library in 1962-63 and she administered the two-parish library system.” She was a member of the American Library Association, the Louisiana Library Association, and the Kappa Alpha Theta Sorority. She was president of the Caddo-Bossier Library Club and the business manager of the Louisiana Library Association’s publication, ‘The Bulletin.’

The Bossier Parish Library has proudly provided access to an array of materials, programs, and technologies that inform, educate, and entertain the residents of this great parish for the past eighty years. To learn more about the Bossier Parish Library’s history, visit the BPL History Center at 2206 Beckett Street, Bossier City.