Interviewing Library Advocates: Jessica Styons, Jefferson Parish Public Library Director and Michelle D. Brignac-Carr, Jefferson Protection and Animal Welfare Services
In 2024, the Jefferson Parish Public Library (JPL) celebrated its 75th anniversary. With seventeen branches, the library serves a population of over 440,000 people and, most recently, through its partnership with the Jefferson Protection and Animal Welfare Services (JPAWS) serves countless animals.
While many library systems across the country, including JPL, have implemented “Reading with Rover” programs, JPL has partnered with JPAWS to create programming and services that make a “Paw-sitive difference” for two-legged and four-legged patrons. I recently had the opportunity to talk to Jessica Styons, Director of JPL, and Michelle D. Brignac-Carr, Director of JPAWS, to learn about some of the “fur-real” amazing programming that are a real “treat” and that prove, through partnerships, anything is “paws-ible.”
Ok, no more puns from me.
Happy Howl-idays!
(I couldn’t resist).
Q: Can you tell me a little bit about your organization?
Michelle Brignac-Carr (MB): JPAWS (Jefferson Protection & Animal Welfare Services) is the largest open intake municipal animal care facility in Louisiana that is not operated by a non-profit organization. We take in 6000 pets a year and have a live release rate of approximately 85%. JPAWS does over 80 events a year from adoption events, educational events, and spay/neuter events. Our mission is to make a Paw-sitive difference for both the two- and four-legged citizens of Jefferson Parish.
Jessica Styons (JS): The Jefferson Parish Library (JPL) is one of the larger public library systems in the state of Louisiana, serving approximately 440,000 residents with 17 locations. The library system is part of the Greater New Orleans area in Southeast Louisiana and extends all the way to the Gulf of Mexico with our Grand Isle Library.
Q: Can you share some of the activities/programs through which JPL and JPAWS have partnered?
MB: We have partnered on Microchip Scanning Stations, Microchip Clinics, educational events, and adoption events.
JS: We have cross-advertised materials such as bookmarks. We plan to have more social media content and possibly billboards in the near future!
Caption: Jefferson Parish President Cynthia Lee Sheng with one of JPL’s Microchip Scanning Stations. Photo courtesy of Jefferson Parish
Q: In the spring, you partnered on “a new initiative to enhance pet safety across the parish with the unveiling of the first of seven Pet Microchip Scanning Stations.” The stations will allow patrons to identify microchipped pets, helping patrons and residents quickly locate lost pets. Can you tell me more about how the partnership between JPL and JPAWS started?
MB: The Cat-a-log/Dog-a-Log addition to the “Library of Things” started as a conversation after the implementation of the FAFO (Foster and Find Out) bookmarks the Library had printed as a collaboration with JPAWS when JPAWS started a new Foster Marketing Campaign. This was after the two departments collaborated on having microchip scanning stations at several parish libraries to help reunite lost pets with owners. The Department of Libraries allowed JPAWS to install the stations and to celebrate the installation of the stations at the libraries with Microchipping Clinics.
JS: Michelle and I both have a passion for what we do and for serving our communities, and we both like to have fun with it so the synergy just happens. And, like most libraries, we are staffed with many animal lovers who really look for ways to serve both our human and animal parish residents.
Q: Were there some specific goals that you hoped to achieve through the partnership? Were there specific community needs that you hoped to address?
MB: The specific goals were to bring both community awareness to the need for foster/adoptive homes for the pets in the community, as well as to provide resources available through the Library and JPAWS for pets and adopters.
JS: The library is not so much about collections but about making connections to resources – resources that may be print, electronic, community organizations, etc., and partnerships are one of the best ways to share resources and build community.
Q: How have patrons and community members responded?
MB: This partnership has created quite the buzz. Members of the community have stated that this collaboration was creative, and the beginning of a new era for the animal care field. Animal care agencies claimed that this is truly a way to reach an untapped market of adopters. The best way to benefit an organization whose mission is to find homes for pets is to help them “into the light” in unexpected places, and this partnership does exactly that.
JS: I’ve seen a lot of great buzz on social media – particularly about the microchip scanning stations. Once the Cat-a-log/Dog-a-log is more formally in place, I think we will see even more. While animals are particularly fun for children in the library, we have a lot of seniors who come to the animal programs, and building those connections for seniors is so critical.
Q: How has the partnership raised awareness about animal welfare and about libraries?
MB: When you go to the library you aren’t expecting to see pets or interact with them. You also wouldn’t expect to receive information from your local library about your local animal care facility. In Jefferson, we are striving to make this a more normal occurrence. More citizens are contacting JPAWS because of their bookmark or because we were just at a library event. Now JPAWS has a Book Nook for kids to read to the animals, and we encourage them to go to their local library to find even more books.
JS: For the library, it highlights the range of ways we support our residents and make connections to the resources they need (or in some cases they didn’t know they needed).
Q: Do you bring furry patrons to the library?
MB: JPAWS brings quite a few of its adoptable pets to the library, and we plan to bring more in the future.
JS: Every time we have animals in the library, it’s so much fun, and people really come out. Kitten Yoga and the Cat Party are among our most popular programs. We also do Reading to Rover and Reading to Rabbits through other non-profit groups.
Q: Do you have any memories of the library from your childhood?
MB: The library was always an escape for me as a child. I could go anywhere I wanted to go–all I had to do was open a book and my mind. I would spend hours in the library. From the smell of the books to the feel of the pages, it was like a second home.
JS: What she said! Also, I remember reading books (mostly checked out from the public library) to my cat, Cleo, as a child. She was a sweet Siamese kitty and was very patient with all my hijinks!
Q: Do you have a favorite book/book recommendation for kids about pets?
MB: My favorite books to recommend to kids about pets are Can I Be Your Dog? by Troy Cummings and The Puppy Place and Kitty Corner series by Ellen Miles.
JS: As a little kid, I loved The Digging-est Dog by Al Perkins and Go, Dog, Go! by P. D. Eastman. At the end of Go, Dog, Go!, all the dogs gather at the top of a large tree for the most amazing party my little girl brain could imagine. I would just stare at that picture wishing I could be with those pups! As an adult, I really enjoyed the children’s book Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo.
Q: What’s next for the partnership between JPL and JPAWS?
MB: JPL and JPAWS are currently working on a wedding. It’s happening in March, and we have loads to do.
JS: The wedding will be a way to highlight the important services of both organizations and have a little fun with social media as well!
Does your library have any special programming geared around or towards four-legged, furry patrons? (Or our scaly patrons, too, of course?) Share in the comments!
This post addresses the following ALSC competency V: Outreach and Advocacy.
Photos courtesy of Jefferson Protection and Animal Welfare Services (JPAWS) and Jefferson Parish.
Soline Holmes, President of Louisiana Association of School Librarians and Librarian at Academy of the Sacred Heart in New Orleans, is writing this post on behalf of the Public Awareness and Advocacy Committee. She can be reached at solineholmes@gmail.com.