Livingston Parish Council votes to remove entire library board, appoints new members

The Livingston Parish Council voted to remove all members of the Livingston Parish Library Board of Control on a 6-3 roll call after an extended public hearing that drew dozens of speakers and sharply divided community opinion.

The move followed a motion from Councilman Ricky Goff to “remove all members of the board,” seconded by Councilman John Mangus. “The only way I know to do this is to clear the board, reset the table, and have a good focus,” Goff told the council before the vote. The council then began a sequence of appointments to fill the vacant seats.

The vote capped a meeting marked by lengthy public comment in which residents, pastors, former board members and parents alternately urged the council to restore library funding and to remove board members they said had allowed sexually explicit material to remain accessible to children. Supporters of the existing board described the dismissals as politically motivated and warned that wholesale replacement would disrupt library services.

Why it matters: The council’s action replaces the parish’s volunteer library oversight body at a moment of intense local controversy. Speakers highlighted both the portion of the budget the…