Assistant Librarian Michael Taylor presented a paper titled "Books and Bookselling in Early-Nineteenth-Century St. Francisville and Bayou Sara, Louisiana," at the Louisiana Historical Association Conference in Lafayette on March 19, 2011.

The paper examined how people on the southwestern frontier acquired reading material in the early 19th century. Focusing on the towns of St. Francisville and Bayou Sara, Louisiana, Taylor looked at where books were sold, who sold them, and other ways printed matter was distributed, acquired, and circulated at a time when there were no Books-A-Millions or Barnes & Nobles. Taylor's research drew partly on his study of several private libraries that were assembled in West Feliciana Parish between about 1800 and 1860, including the libraries of Rosedown, Oakley, and Cottage Plantations, two libraries associated with Grace Episcopal Church, and the St. Francisville Library Company (one of the earliest subscription libraries in the "West").

Taylor discovered that books were being sold in retail stores in this area at least as early as 1813, just two years after the Florida Parishes declared their independence from Spain. Itinerant booksellers were also passing through, taking orders for new books published in the East. Some people, especially wealthy planters, purchased books during summer trips to the North and Europe. Other books were inherited from the earliest settlers of the region, who brought books with them from Europe (a few of these books are now in Special Collections). Probably one of the most important libraries in St. Francisville was the Grace Episcopal Church Sunday School Library. Many of the books in it were donated by a benefactress from Philadelphia.

The research also examines how people loaned books to each other. Dr. Edward H. Barton, for example, who later went on to become one of the founders of Tulane University, loaned all kinds of books to his neighbors, ranging from medical journals to modern novels. Finally, the paper touches briefly on the role of newspapers as "library surrogates." A lot of fiction, poetry, and essays were printed there, making it accessible to people who probably didn't own many books.