If you would no longer like to receive this free product, please email brtmc@ theadvocate.com.
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
Continued from page 1G
RISHER
Continued from page 1G
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.
FAITH & VALUES
New Age music is experiencing a revival among Gen Z
FIONA MURPHY
Contributing writer
Imagine you are walking into a spa, and you are likely to hear an immersive soundscape of soft harmonies, resonant tones and gentle textures submerging your senses
You are experiencing New Age music, a genre designed to promote relaxation, mindfulness and internal healing. Nonmelodic compositions featuring soft piano notes, delicate harp scales, the shimmering chimes of crystal bowls and ambient synthesizers characterize the genre.
Often labeled as “spa music,” New Age has experienced a resurgence in recent years, gaining popularity alongside the rise of wellness culture and spirituality and a decline in organized religious participation, especially among younger generations. And while overcoming religious backlash was a challenge New Age artists and producers faced when the genre first gained traction about 50 years ago, today artificial intelligence poses a new threat
“I feel like we live in a society where we are bombarded by stimuli all of the time, especially if you have social media,” said Ava Rian Buckler, a 25-year-old former professional astrologer who now does creative consulting in Indiana.
Rian Buckler was diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD, which makes her mind particularly restless, she said. Around 2018, she began feeling increasingly overwhelmed, so she decided to delete her social media accounts and came across New Age music online.
“Listening to healing vibrations, I felt like my attention was coming back to me,” she said. “I felt like my energy was coming back to me.”
Rian Buckler describes herself as deeply spiritual rather than religious, having grown up in a nondogmatic Christian household. She often listens to New Age music at a low volume while she sleeps because she said she believes that’s when her subconscious is most receptive to its therapeutic properties. According to HowMusicCharts. com, some of the genre’s most notable artists, such as Brian Eno, Laraaji and Steven Halpern, have seen a renewed interest over the past 15 years. Dozens of YouTube channels created in the last several years dedicated to healing sound vibrations have gained millions of subscribers. And in the broader study and relaxation music category,
New Age music has experienced a resurgence in recent years, gaining popularity alongside the rise of wellness culture and spirituality and a decline in organized religious participation.
LoFi Girl, a 24/7 livestream of lo-fi beats, has become one of YouTube’s most-viewed channels, amassing 14 million subscribers since posting its first “easy-listening” video five years ago.
“The thing that I’m really proud of is that we’ve managed to normalize (New Age) and make it part of what young people think of as music as opposed to being something that’s like sort of music with an asterisk,” said Douglas Mcgowan, a Grammy-nominated music producer and owner of Yoga Records, a Los Angeles-based label dedicated to preserving and promoting New Age music and other niche genres.
Yoga Records is known for its archival work and has played a key role in reintroducing classic New Age albums to modern audiences. Mcgowan said that since founding Yoga Records in 2008, he has seen it as his mission to highlight the potential for listeners to find meaning in New Age.
“To me, New Age is a type of secular, profound and spiritual experience,” Mcgowan said. “It’s a personal feeling of wonder It’s the feeling that you get from a beautiful sunset rather than going to a church or a mosque.”
The genre traces its roots in the United States to the 1970s when musicians began experimenting
with sound as a tool for stress reduction. At the forefront of the movement was Halpern, who is regarded as the pioneer of the genre.
“I was the first person healed by my music,” said Halpern, who has released over 100 albums and has hundreds of thousands of monthly listeners on streaming platforms. A video published to his YouTube channel called “Steven Halpern Great Pyramid OMs Cymatics” has over 500,000 views. Halpern was also nominated for a Grammy Award for best New Age album in 2013.
“Healing comes from a balance of body mind and spirit,” he said. “In the 1980s, the major music labels said, ‘We’re going to call it contemporary instrumental because New Age has a spiritual component to it that we don’t want to get involved with.’
According to Halpern, healing music can synchronize brainwaves with the alpha state, a neurological pattern linked to relaxation and balance. He references research on the physiological effects of sound, including 1994 findings that suggested his music helped maintain healthy blood flow whereas harsh, stress-inducing sounds cause white blood cells to clump together, potentially leading to health effects.
In earlier days, Halpern said, New
Age music faced backlash from religious groups. For example, in Pastor Bob Larson’s 1989 book “Straight Answers on the New Age,” Halpern was labeled a “ringleader of the demonic cult music that they call New Age music.”
“I said, ‘What?’” Halpern recalled. “I work with angels. I work with powers of light.”
Some religious groups opposed New Age music because of its association with meditation, which they viewed as contrary to Christianity
But Halpern considers his work a continuation of ancient healing traditions, which he connects to biblical references, the teachings of Edgar Cayce (a late self-proclaimed American clairvoyant), Sufi masters and the mathematical principles of Pythagoras Halpern was inspired by historical uses of music in the temples of Egypt, Greece and China.
“I wanted to hear a contemporary version of what healing music would sound like in the 20th century, and there was nothing available,” Halpern said.
When music stores in California said they had no place for his work, Halpern, who is a classically trained jazz musician, found success at metaphysical bookstores, yoga centers and crystal shops. He soon was part of building a musical movement.
Fifty years later, as popular streaming services such as Spotify make music more accessible than ever, New Age musicians and producers now are contending with AIgenerated music.
“The whole AI revolution really hit my part of the music field,” Halpern said. “It’s never going to hit Beyonce because you can’t fake her But the arrangement of things? That’s a different story,” adding that New Age music is an easier target for fabrication because of its structural simplicity, repetition and lack of vocals.
“You see very clearly that New Age music is really sort of the first music that is falling to artificial intelligence,” Mcgowan said.
In recent years, Spotify has faced scrutiny for the proliferation of AI-generated beats, ambient tones and New Age music on its platform, which cuts company costs of paying artists.
“In my case, I saw my royalties (on Spotify) go down 70% in one month,” Halpern said. “It was shocking.” Halpern said that, across multiple platforms, Apple Music, Spotify and Pandora, this is the case.
This trend underscores growing concerns that the rise of AI-generated compositions could diminish the genre’s spiritual and wellness essence, which many listeners seek.
“Nobody has shown me any AI New Age music that has meant anything to me,” Mcgowan said. “I’m not saying it’s not possible — in fact, I’m saying it’s inevitable but my focus on New Age music of the past has always been about creating an anchor in reality Like, it’s about grounding us in a historical bedrock that is solid and real.”
Halpern also said because of costs, much potential research on the healing properties of New Age music has remained unexplored, which also remains true for AI-generated music.
Younger listeners like Rian Buckler are also approaching AI-generated music with caution.
“I want to support real humans who have been doing this for a long time, especially people like Steven Halpern,” she said, adding, however, that if an advanced AI model was specifically designed with healing frequencies and programmed with a deep understanding of the genre’s history and its effects on the brain, she could be open to listening to it.
“But as far as everyday use, I don’t think anybody’s doing that yet,” she said.
Bridging the green divide for park equity and connection
BY AIDAN MCCAHILL Staff writer
It’s no secret Baton Rouge has a lot of parks At nearly 180 of them, the city ranks among the highest in the nation for per capita greenspaces.
Despite that abundance, a history of redlining, discriminatory urban renewal, and overall economic disparities have created a system of unequal access to parks in the city
According to a study by Trust for Public Lands, a nationwide park and conservation nonprofit, residents in low-income neighborhoods have access to 26% less park space per person than those in the average Baton Rouge neighborhood and 52% less than those in high-income neighborhoods. Of the park space residents do have access to, half are labeled in poor condition
“We have a beautiful park system, but I don’t think there is equal access,” said Crystal EllisLuter, a child policy advocate in Baton Rouge.
In mid 2023, Luter and 15 other residents were selected by BREC, the parish’s recreation and park commission, to join a community planning council The goal was to generate the highest and most diverse amount of community input possible in order to shape the park system’s new 10year master plan.
Variance in perspectives
Pairs of volunteers met once a month for a year, touring the city’s park system and planning a community outreach event Andrea Roberts, the chief operating officer at BREC, said there was one caveat.
“We were very intentional that the people we paired up were from totally different socioeconomic classes,” she said
“None of us really knew each other,” said Rex Cabaniss, a local architect who joined the council.
He and his partner volunteer
Dr Evelyn Thomas, a local pastor, lived in very different parts of town But that variance in perspectives made for a great team when planning their community outreach event, he said.
“It’s always interesting meeting someone new who has a different experience living here,” Cabaniss said.
During Carnival season last year, the pair held a neighborhood event at North Sherwood Forest Recreation Center, where kids brought miniature Mardi Gras floats they’d designed at home. Cabaniss said the event generated a huge turnout among
young families, most of whom filled out a park survey required to get free jambalaya served at the event.
Meanwhile, Luter and her volunteer partner, a local butcher named Galen Iverstine, organized a cleanup event and established a community garden at Tickie Saia Memorial Park in Lobdell/Wooddale, a neighborhood with a significant Hispanic population.
“The benefit for me, because I’m stuck in this bubble in Shenandoah, was being able to see firsthand the unique needs of other communities,” Luter said.
An increase in contact and trust
The various events were funded through a grant awarded to
BREC from Trust for Public Lands as part of their “On Common Ground” framework, a national effort by the organization to combat polarization and foster community cohesiveness through public parks and green spaces.
More than half of the participants reported experiencing an increase in everyday intergroup contact and increased trust in local government. The feedback generated by the community council also provided the framework for “Imagine your Parks 3,” BREC’s 10-year master plan centered around equity and investing in underfunded communities.
“A lot of it (the feedback) was just trying to upgrade parks that needed it and using dollars going
forward to bring up the whole system equally,” said Cabaniss. Some of the proposed improvements included better maintenance, improved lighting and heat mitigation strategies to combat rising summer temperatures — all goals of the new master plan.
In November, residents greenlit the plan by voting to renew millages that fund 65% of the park system, expected to generate $55 million in 2025. Among enhancements to the existing system, the plan calls for upgrades to the Bluebonnet Swamp trails and visitors center and improvements to Greenwood and Sandy Creek.
Sustaining our parks system Roberts also indicated plans for another cohort similar to the community planning council, which will focus on ways to engage the community in maintaining the park system.
“We need to be more creative about how we’re going to sustain our parks system over the next 10 years,” Roberts said. “Having the community take ownership in their local parks will also foster connections that bring our community closer together.”
Seeing the level of community involvement on the plan’s ground floor, both Cabaniss and Luter said they were not only excited for the 10-year master plan, but also hopeful for a better future for families and park lovers in Baton Rouge.
“At five o’clock, if you go to our local park, all of our neighbors are there All of the families are engaging each other, and all of the children are getting exercise,” Luter said. “I think that every child and every family within East Baton Rouge Parish deserves that same type of experience.”
Email Aidan McCahill at aidan. mccahill@theadvocate.com.
PROVIDED PHOTO
PROVIDED PHOTO
BREC community planning council members Rex Cabaniss and Evelyn Thomas held a neighborhood event at North Sherwood Forest Recreation Center where kids brought miniature Mardi Gras floats they’d designed at home.