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LIBRARY LIFESTYLE
New Orleans library builds ‘Read and Ride’ youth program
BY MISSY WILKINSON Staff writer
When the New Orleans Public Library staff and stakeholders developed their 10-year strategic plan in 2021, the goal was to cultivate a “library lifestyle” for all New Orleanians by redefining the library’s role and offerings. However residents were still grappling with intermittent pandemic-related closures, along with limited access to transportation — obstacles that impacted those who stood to benefit the most from library services: young people.
“Talking with teens inside and outside the library and reading the newspapers, we were hearing from all sides that transportation was a barrier for teens to get to the library, and we wanted to eliminate this,” said Amy Wander, head of youth programming.
Inspired by similar programs at other libraries, Wander pitched to the Friends of the New Orleans Public Library a free bus pass program, operated on the honor system, to help kids get to all 15 library branches.
“One of the words Amy said was ‘independent,’” recalled Shannan Cvitanovic, executive director of Friends of the NOPL. “When you are young and trying to assert your independence, coming to the library is a safe way to do that.”
The “Read and Ride” pilot program launched in summer 2022 with funding from the United Way, Baptist Community Ministries and the Friends of the NOPL. Each youth gets one pass per visit, and passes are good for unlimited RTA bus, ferry or streetcar rides citywide for 24 hours after first use.
“I don’t have to ask my mom for a ride, so it lets me be more independent, which I like a lot,” said Read and Ride participant Ocean Hamilton.
Nearly three years later, the program is “a well-loved offering,” Wander said. Funded by Friends of the NOPL’s donations, grants and used book sales, passes cost $1 each. Busier branches may distribute 40 passes per month, said Wander, and the library is reviewing data to identify areas of greatest need.
“What started as a summer pilot program ended up being a year-round endeavor,” said Cvitanovic.
Librarians distributed between 800
“I
don’t have to ask my mom for a ride, so it lets me be more independent, which I like a lot”
OCEAN HAMILTON, Read and Ride participant
and 1,000 passes to youths in 2024.
“Once word got out, it got bigger and more popular,” Wander said “Now it is more popular than it has been. Some branches have their regulars.” Read and Ride passes aren’t attached to users’ library cards or accounts, which makes it difficult to track reading habits or areas of greatest use However, anecdotally Wander said library
staffers have observed heavy use at library branches located near schools — especially in the Lower 9th Ward, at Dr Martin Luther King Jr Charter School for Science and Technology, which is a short walk from the library’s Martin Luther King Branch at 1611 Fats Domino Ave
“We have found that this is very popular at branches near schools. Those kids weren’t able to stay at libraries (before Read and Ride),” Wander said. “They had to get on the school bus and go home.” Now, those students can read, use the computers or do research at their leisure without being tied to a school bus
ä See LIBRARY, page 2G
In the television show “Amazing Race,” contestants compete in teams of two to race around the world, making pitstops at a variety of locales with the last team to arrive usually being eliminated.
I was a faithful watcher of the show for years as it was the perfect intersection of my wanderlust and love of games. Years ago, I even sent in an audition tape with my youngest brother Sadly, we never got the call.
Each season, the random cast of characters travels to a variety of foreign cities where they must compete tasks, one being deciding between two so-called “Detours,” that involve different skills or challenges. The decision on which task to do lies solely with the team. The Detours usually have creative, catchy names. Examples include: n Sleds or beds in Sweden: Sleds required athleticism as they had to race down a mountain on TechSleds in less than one minute and 58 seconds. Beds was all about craftsmanship, dexterity and attention to detail. Teams had to build a traditional Sami dwelling, called a goahti, along with furnishing it with furs and a fire pit.
n Mix Master or Master Mix in Malaysia: Contestants could either choose to be a DJ and learn to scratch on a DJ table to impress a DJ and his crowd or stack seven cocktail glasses into a two-tier pyramid and carefully pour out different colored cocktails into every glass at the same time to avoid mixing the contents in the SkyBar on the 32nd floor of the Traders Hotel in Kuala Lumpur
n Shake Your Booty or Shake Your Pan in Burkina Faso. Contestants could choose Shake Your Booty to impress three local judges with their dance moves. Or they could pan for gold using the traditional methods of Burkina Faso.
When I used to watch the show regularly when the teams would stand quietly deciding which of the tasks to tackle, I would often shout instructions at the television. My message was always clear
“Choose the fun one!” I would first yell.
Followed by “Choose the one that calls out to you!”
Then I would shake my head and mumble something along the lines of, “Don’t be lured thinking that because the other task seems harder that there’s some righteousness to it that is going to earn you extra points.”
When it came time to do this or that to get to the next place, there were never any points for doing the more difficult thing. After watching the show for years, I was convinced that there was no favor in picking the difficult or tedious task, which players seemed to occasionally choose because they were convinced there had to be a catch.
I couldn’t help but think of “The Amazing Race” last week as I read contemporary philosopher Laurie Ann Paul’s report, ”When New Experience Leads to New Knowledge: A Computational Framework for Formalizing Epistemically Transformative Experiences.” It may not be a title that rolls off the tongue for nonacademics like myself, but the subject matter fascinates me still. (Paul wrote the report with Joan Ongchoco, Isaac Davis and Julian Jara-Ettinger.)
In the simplest of terms, the
ä See RISHER, page 2G
STAFF FILE PHOTO BY MISSY WILKINSON
Shannan Cvitanovic executive director of Friends of the New Orleans Public Library, and Amy Wander head of youth programming at the New Orleans Public Library, recently show off Read and Ride passes outside the NOPD’s Mid-City branch at 4140 Canal St.
PROVIDED PHOTO
Giovanni, a library user who asked not to use his last name, shows off Read and Ride passes.
18, 2023.
LIBRARY
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RISHER
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report is about new experiences leading to new knowledge. It immediately made me think of “The Amazing Race.” She has written a lot about transformative experiences, something that “teaches you something new, something that you could not have known before having the experience, while also changing you as a person.”
Unlike the “Amazing Race Detour”-style options, she has focused on situations when life offers two distinct choices, where one of the options offers a radically new experience with implications that can’t be understood in advance. Such as:
n Deciding to become a parent or remaining childless?
n Taking the new job and relocating my family or stay with the tried and true?
we approach the crossroads that major life decisions offer?
schedule. Read and Ride’s success laid the groundwork for a similar pilot program for young adults. The “Opportunity Pass,” supported by a $2.5 million allocation from American Rescue Plan funds approved by the New Orleans City Council in 2023, provides unlimited RTA rides for youth ages 16 to 24. “I like to think they saw what Amy was doing (with Read and Ride) and were spurred on by that success,” said Cvitanovic, who calls Wander “the teen whisperer.”
Q&A WITH MARC SAVOY
Wander said she’s seen higher teen engagement in the library since launching the program, and she’s glad there’s greater access to programming and re-
sources that can help set a child on a new career path, do research online, or just hang out with like-minded peers.
“It’s a great resource that I think more people should know about,” said Read and Ride participant Christopher Washington.
n Marrying this person or exploring another possibility?
n Changing careers? Going into this field or that one?
n Going to college here or going there? The question for us mere mortals is: How do
Our information is incomplete. We can’t answer all the what-ifs? We don’t know what choosing one path over the other will bring or how we will change as we face the consequences. Sometimes, even pragmatic pros and cons lists can’t provide an absolute obvious best choice. Rather than wearing ourselves out debating the unknowable consequences, Paul explores reframing our thinking not approaching the choice itself with set expectations but approaching the new experience to make discoveries about the experience itself, instead of being focused on one of the possibilities being the better choice. As in, via my meager interpretation, don’t stress so much about which path to pick. Just pick a good path and make the most of it. And if you’re still struggling as to which path to pick do the one that seems like it would be the most fun or would sync the best with who you know yourself to be.
Email Jan Risher at jan. risher@theadvocate.com.
Eunice musician continues to build Acadian accordions
Cajun preserves the culture he loves
BY JOY HOLDEN Staff writer
Marc Savoy is a Louisiana legend not only in Eunice but around the world. He has dedicated his life to preserving the Cajun culture through making instruments, holding jam sessions and maintaining a music store in Eunice for almost 60 years. He began building accordions as a hobby in 1960, opened up Savoy Music Center in 1966 and is still building today His son Joel joined the business six years ago. Marc Savoy and his wife, Ann, raised their four children in Eunice, and all of them play at least one instrument and speak their native French. The family performs together as the Savoy Family Cajun Band.
In 2021, Marc Savoy’s book, “Made in Louisiana The Story of The Acadian Accordion” was released and published by UL Press. Can you tell me how you got interested in the accordion and Cajun music?
The stimulus that inspired me to pursue music wasn’t a performance. It actually had nothing to do with music. It was my love for my family and for the people around me that made me want to do what they did — farming, raising animals, gardening and family gatherings.
One day I heard these people playing music, and I was hooked for life, not because I had a particular interest in fiddles and accordions but rather because these were the instruments they were playing.
I was about 5 years old when I first heard my grandfather playing music on his fiddle, and I remember being so excited that I started laughing uncontrollably. When my parents realized how excited I would always get when I heard my family and neighbors playing music, they organized a house dance on Christmas Eve. I remember being so focused on the folks making the music that night that I totally forgot about
Santa Claus. The social fabric that developed from these house dances was, for me, a very secure, comfortable and warm environment.
When I became of age, I enjoyed attending the local Saturday night Cajun dance halls to listen to the music, especially to the accordion, but being a musician in a band wasn’t anything that ever had much attraction for me.
I did eventually join a band, but after about a year, I realized that I wanted to pursue music in a different context. My discontent also coincided with a big change that I felt could become an enormous shot of adrenaline for Cajun culture — the 1964 Newport Jazz Festival in Newport, Rhode Island, had just discovered Cajun music.
When the Eunice Playboys, the first Cajun group to be invited to this very prestigious festival, returned to Louisiana and told me about the fantastic reception they had received, I had a premonition that the word “Cajun“ would now become a word with a whole new image.
How do you preserve Cajun culture in your own life and in your community?
After Newport, I was so optimistic that the word “Cajun” would
eventually circle the globe, I decided to open a center founded upon preserving the culture I loved. Although my parents and their ancestors were all rice farmers, I never had an interest in much of anything else unless it was connected to the music of my heritage.
One day it dawned upon me that possibly I could combine both farming and music together I opened the doors to Savoy Music Center in 1966 in the middle of a cotton field. I wanted my music center to be known that I specialized in Cajun instruments for Cajuns.
I wanted a center where the older generation French-speaking Cajuns and Creoles could come and feel comfortable speaking their language and playing their music When it was discovered that I respected and honored this older generation for maintaining their heritage, this information spread like wildfire.
The 56-year-old jam session that happens here every Saturday morning slowly began by offering these old-timers an opportunity to
play their music. Visitors say that the jam session is reminiscent of an old-time house dance.
What is the significance of the Saturday jam sessions at the Music Center?
From a business point of view, I would hope that my efforts have helped other people realize that heritage and success cannot only coexist, but can do so to a much greater extent with heritage.
Culturally, I would hope that my efforts have demonstrated to others that visitors come to Louisiana not for the purpose of seeing things that are All-American, but rather to experience everything that is natural and organic about Acadiana. I would hope that my feeble efforts have encouraged a sensibility of community
Can you share more about your family and their talents?
In my 50 years of traveling the world playing Cajun music, the best thing that ever happened to me was meeting a young girl from Richmond, Virginia, who was also interested in doing the same thing I was doing, and she wanted to do those things with me. She was a beautiful jazz guitarist and pho-
tographer who spoke French fluently Ann and I married in 1976. As our four children were growing up, after dinner time, instead of watching TV with the children, Ann and I would take a musical instrument and play a few tunes while the kids were at our feet coloring in their coloring books or playing with toys.
Joel, our oldest son, was the first in the family to express an interest in playing an instrument himself. One day he asked me if he could play my fiddle. I told him he was welcome to play it but to treat it with care and respect and also not to ask me for any information about how to play it because I wasn’t going to help him get started. If he had passion, he wouldn’t need any help from me. Today I am very proud of the fact that all four of our children play music and speak their native French.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity Email Joy Holden at joy.holden@ theadvocate.com.
STAFF FILE PHOTO BY CHRIS GRANGER
file photo of the bridge on Highway 56, known as Little Caillou Road, which was closed for much of the past year requiring a lengthy detour to the west.
STAFF FILE PHOTO BY SOPHIA GERMER
A person walks to the entrance of the New Orleans Public Library’s Main Branch on Loyola Avenue in New Orleans on Aug.
The Library offers a ‘Read and Ride’ pilot program for local youth, who get one pass per visit, and passes are good for unlimited RTA bus, ferry or streetcar rides citywide for 24 hours after first use.
STAFF FILE PHOTO BY BRAD BOWIE
A banner featuring Chris Stafford’s image is seen between Joel Savoy, left, and Linzay Young as Festival Acadiens et Creoles kicks off with a 50th Anniversary Revue including special guests Marc Savoy & Family on Oct. 12 in Girard Park.
FILE PHOTO BY ROBIN MAY Marc Savoy has a smile on his face while playing with his family when the Savoy Family Band performs during Festivals Acadiens et Creoles on March 20, 2022, in Lafayette.
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