After her introduction by Dr. Gaddis, Winn Parish Library Director Priscilla Massey said she has in common with the Kiwanis club that she believes in serving the community. She had prepared a folder for each person with information about the library and the services it offers. There was also a calendar of events for June and July and a puzzle book. She had just come from seeing Harvey Rabbit at the main branch. This is a program that happens every year during the Summer Reading Program.

Ms. Massey gave highlights of a flyer that gave 2024 By The Numbers at the Winn Parish Library. 80% of Winn Parish residents have library cards. That is because you can get a library card at a very young age. We have the main library as well as branches at Atlanta, Calvin, Dodson and Sikes. The branch libraries were built in conjunction with the schools. With the closure of the Atlanta school the property that the library building sits on was donated to the library and it now has its own water and electricity.

These branches are open 3 days per week except Dodson which is open 4 days per week. They each have a branch manager in charge. These branches also have a computer area and access to WiFi. The Winn Parish Library offers much more than just books. They have magazines, newspapers and movies. There are meeting room spaces available at no charge. In 2024, 5422 people took advantage of book clubs, craft days, children’s story times, class field trips, outreach & partnership programs and much more. There were about 500 programs offered in 2024. The services of the library are the same but the way the library is used is different. There are digital resources including Homework LA (a tutoring program with certified tutors), Mango Languages which is a resource for learning foreign languages.

Many people check out e-books or audiobooks from Libby using their library card. The library is an important part of the community because literacy is important, access to information is important and service to the community is important. Hours at the Winn Parish Library are 9 AM – 5:30 PM Monday through Friday and 9 AM – 1 PM on Saturday. There were over 25,000 visits to the Winn Parish Library system in 2024.