By LILLIAN RIDLEN, LaPlace

DEAR EDITOR: With the brand-new, larger, state-of-the-art public library now opened on U.S. Highway 51, just how do those who had to walk or ride a bicycle now get to the public library?

Has the library now become drive-to-only accessible? It would appear so, as there is no bike path from Airline Highway to the Glade School, nor much of a shoulder to make walking along the road to the new library a safe jaunt.

During school time, use of the library for research, book reports and other assigned projects is a necessity. Those who cannot drive, have no vehicles or rides to get to the new site will find very little joy over a new, wonderful library that makes their library no longer accessible to them.

But then sometimes intellectuals get so busy with the technical aspects of a planned project some details can be overlooked. Not so important to those who drive or have rides in vehicles to the new site. But quite important to those who do not!

School-aged youths who cannot get to and use the public library’s vast store of knowledge when needed, grades will suffer. Should the library not be accessible to everyone in the community? Then why isn’t it? Anyone have a clue?

Or for the record, our new library is near our park – the one with lots of land, a lake and a sign. Where the only recreation a person could get there is cleaning the mud from their shoes when they leave. Planning in St. John has been iffy and maybe for a quarter of a century I’m aware of.

Isn’t it time to stop all the squabbling, rhetoric and for our parish leaders and council to get organized, back to the basics, knows ahead of time what’s in the agenda, what both the cost and the legalities of projects are, before projects are brought to the parish council for a vote?

Time to eliminate the confusion, shorted council meetings by being prepared so everyone can get home earlier to their families, while our still-growing parish moves forward in smoother and more surefooted fashion?

What could being fully prepared and more organized hurt? If those who are supposed to keep the parish president and the council fully informed, just aren’t doing the job, maybe that needs to be looked into. St. John needs a well-oiled working team in place, in order to get things done in a prompt and timely manner. In order to start gaining the respect it deserves as a growing force in the River Parishes.