Editor’s note: The following commentary was submitted in response to an Aug. 20, 2024 report from the Illuminator: “LSU changes tenure rules for librarians to improve its research rankings,” by Piper Hutchinson

In August, LSU announced that it would no longer hire librarians to tenure-track positions. 

The University offered two justifications for the move: LSU’s aspiration for American Association of Universities status, and the chronic difficulty involved in evaluating the promotion and tenure portfolios of faculty who teach no classes and have just 15% of their time allocated to research.

For some of LSU’s library faculty, the elimination of future tenure track appointments felt like a devaluing of their work, and one that could lead to further diminishment and disinvestment.  

While I empathize with the concerns of our disappointed librarians, I believe that this move will  improve the work lives of librarians generally. Speaking as a research library director with career long research interests, I am fully committed to a model of academic librarianship which involves significant engagement with the literature of our profession, the publication of new knowledge, and service contributions such as leadership in professional associations. My experience, however, leads me to believe that these behaviors can exist, even thrive outside the framework of  tenure. They certainly do at the 79% of AAU institutions that do not offer librarians tenure.  

The controversy over librarian tenure has shown us all how deeply enmeshed the issue is in  foundational values and beliefs that might otherwise go unchallenged. I am as guilty of ignoring  my own assumptions as anyone, and it’s taken this abrupt change to make me take stock of what I  currently believe. I’ve ended up with the following five principles: 

Respect for the role

However research librarian positions are configured, in practice they need to operate as full  partners in the academic process. Teaching and curricular support, the provision of student  success services, and collection building all require deep professional expertise, and all require  full engagement with teaching faculty, Faculty Senate, and campus-wide committees. It is further  appropriate for research librarian positions to offer the protections offered teaching faculty. NC  State University provides “academic tenure” to their non tenure track faculty, which differs from  “permanent tenure” only in that it is bounded within the contract period of employment.  

Respect for tenure

Tenure at most of America’s best universities is reserved for those who do significant teaching and  research, and who do those jobs extremely well. Teaching is entirely absent from many librarian  positions, and for nearly all, conducting original research is peripheral to their primary  responsibilities.  

Scaffolding and rewards for research and service

The appointment and promotion of research librarians needs to encourage and reward innovation  and substantive contributions to the profession. Engagement of this sort will not suit every  librarian, but for those who actively seek out this kind of professional life, libraries should provide  mentorship programs, internal peer coaching, travel budgets, and allowance for continuing  education of all kinds. 

Scaffolding and rewards for excellence in librarianship

A common trope in higher education bemoans faculty reward structures that discount excellence  in teaching. The analog in research libraries are librarians who are extraordinarily good at the job  they’re hired for, only to lose their jobs as a result of inadequate publication activity. Librarian  ranks need to recognize excellent work, and provide consequential promotion and compensation  rewards. The mentor programs and peer coaching mentioned above can easily be adapted so as  to support those oriented towards workplace excellence. 

Producing value

There is an additional cost that flows from shoehorning librarian contributions into evaluation and  promotion documents built for teaching faculty. That awkward effort also impairs our ability to  highlight and reward the dazzling breadth of work our librarians do in serving faculty and students.  Now more than ever, we need those contributions to be visible, inescapable really, all across  campus. Doing so will come naturally to a profession that has transformed itself so completely  over the past 25 years. Excellent research libraries are a university’s competitive edge, and it is  their librarians that make them so.

As the fall approaches and the weather starts to cool down, there’s no better time to head for one of Louisiana’s state parks for hiking, camping, or fishing.

According to the Louisiana Department of Culture, Recreation, and Tourism, there are 21 state parks across the state. But which ones are the most visited?

Here’s a look at the most popular Louisiana state parks:

No. 3: Bogue Chitto State Park

In Washington Parish is one of the most diverse state parks in all of Louisiana. Bogue Chitto offers nearly 1,800 acres of land, encompassing forests for hiking, rivers for canoeing, lakes for fishing, trails for mountain biking, caves for sightseeing, and campsites for when the day is done.

No. 2: Bayou Segnette State Park

Jefferson Parish brings us one of the best fishing state parks in Louisiana. Bayou Segnette’s unique location — just a 15-minute drive from New Orleans — offers both saltwater and freshwater fishing. This park also offers picnic areas on land, playgrounds for kids, and a wave pool for swimming.

More: Houma bar named one of the best in US. Everything to know before you go

No. 1: Fontainebleau State Park

Located in St. Tammany Parish, this is one of the most popular state parks in Louisiana. Fontainebleau is surrounded by water on three sides, allowing for sailing fans to bring the boat out. The park also offers beaches, trails for hiking and bicycling, and campgrounds.

More: Miss Louisiana Makenzie Scroggs reflects as she gets ready to say goodbye to the crown

The boy is in custody after being accused of shooting and killing former interim Minden Mayor Joe Cornelius Sr., 82, and his daughter, 31-year-old Keisha Miles.

An 11-year-old boy has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder after being accused of shooting a former Louisiana city mayor and his adult daughter to death, police said.

Minden Police Chief Jared McIver announced the arrest of the boy during a news conference on Tuesday and confirmed the deaths of Joe Cornelius Sr., 82, and his daughter, 31-year-old Keisha Miles.

“I just want to start out by giving our condolences to the family,” McIver said. “This is a very tough issue to be dealing with and the city mourns with you, as well. The city is also in shock.”

Minden police officers got a 911 call about the shooting on Sunday around 6:30 a.m., according to McIver. The caller, who the chief said was a family member, told the operator that two people were dead inside of a home.

Cornelius and Miles were found in the home dead from multiple gunshot wounds, the chief said. Investigators found two guns that were hidden on the property that matched the empty shell casings found at the scene of the shooting, he added.

11-year-old boy confesses to the murders: Police chief

Detectives soon interviewed the 11-year-old boy who was at the scene when officers responded, McIver said. After the boy gave authorities a story that “didn’t add up,” he later confessed to committing the shootings, according to the chief.

The boy’s relationship with Cornelius and Miles is unclear, and while police did not specify, McIver said he is their family member.

“A lot of questions have arose about what is the why behind this. We do not know that yet,” according to the chief. “We are still piecing the puzzle pieces together right now.”

McIver also did not release what guns were used to commit the shootings.

“When it comes to a crime like this, if a person wants to do harm to someone it doesn’t matter the weapon,” he said. “They’re going to find something to use. In this case, firearms were used.”

The 11-year-old remains in custody with a $500,000 bond, according to the chief.

‘This is a somber day for our community’

Joe Cornelius Sr. previously served as a longtime city council and interim mayor of Minden, Louisiana, current Minden Mayor Nick Cox said during the news conference.

“This is a somber day for our community as we face this tragedy that has deeply affected us all, our hearts and prayers are with the Cornelius family and their friends during this unimaginable time,” Cox said. “Joe Cornelius was more than just a public servant, he was a committed leader who dedicated many years to the service of the city of Minden.”

McIver said Cornelius has “been around” and everybody knew him, which is why his death “hurts the most.”

“When you know somebody that’s been in the community that long, (and) that’s reached so many people there, there’s a sorrow,” the chief said.