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Most workplaces have a place to go when you\\u2019re not working. A lunchroom. Cafeteria. Or maybe a space with an espresso machine and a ping pong table.\\xa0These non-work spaces are also places where unplanned but valuable work conversations happen.

Social science has a term for these kinds of unintended incidents. They\\u2019re called \\u201clatent functions.\\u201d\\xa0Latent functions exist on a grand scale at our public libraries.

Principally, a library is a building that houses books that are loaned out.\\xa0Beyond that principal function, all kinds of social and educational programs are run out of libraries. Reading Outreach for children, Adult Literacy, creative writing workshops, all kinds of community meetings\\u2026 And then there\\u2019s the tax forms, internet access and other services libraries provide.

Although we expect to find all these things at our libraries, local governments typically see them as merely latent functions - beyond the regular scope of the institution - and for that reason don\\u2019t necessarily fund them.

In New Orleans, we have an organization dedicated to raising auxiliary funds to cover the shortfall. It\\u2019s called Friends of the New Orleans Public Library. It raises money through grant writing and donations, but principally it\\u2019s a bookstore.

Three days a week they sell donated books out of a building on the grounds of the Latter Library, on St Charles Avenue Uptown, and one day a week the bookstore is open at the library in Algiers.

The Executive Director of Friends of the New Orleans Public Library is Shannan Cvitanovic.\\xa0

When you\\u2019re not reading your library book, maybe you\\u2019re watching TV, or a movie.\\xa0When you get to the end of a TV show or movie, the typically long list of credits is an indication of the large number of people it takes to make a work for the screen.

Although that list of creators can number well into the hundreds, the only people most of us have any real interest in is the relatively small number of actors.

Within the entertainment industry, actors are also the center of attention. Projects are often funded based solely on which actors agree to star in them.\\xa0In the tiers below those starring roles, landing an acting job is highly competitive. Getting cast in a movie, a TV show, or a live theater production depends on how well an actor performs at their job interview \\u2013 known as an \\u201caudition.\\u201d

Here in New Orleans, there\\u2019s a business that dedicates itself to preparing actors for auditions. It\\u2019s called The Actors Apothecary.\\xa0The founders of The Actors Apothecary are Chelsea Bryan and Sylvia Grace Crim.

For most of us, reading books, watching TV, or going to a movie is a break from our everyday world.\\xa0But for some people, books, movies and TV is their everyday world.\\xa0Shannan\'s professional connection to books is unique: her daily labors provide an important element of funding for the New Orleans Public Library. And\\xa0Chelsea and Sylvia\'s connection to film and TV is equally unique. On paper it seems paradoxical to create a business that\\u2019s building a community of actors while at the same time giving each of them a competitive edge, but in the real world it\\u2019s working.

Out to Lunch is recorded live over lunch at\\xa0NOLA Pizza\\xa0in the\\xa0NOLA Brewing Taproom. You can find photos from this by by\\xa0Jill Lafleur at itsneworleans.com.

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