History Jefferson Parish Library

digested paper written cathy gontar in 1998

jefferson parish, long, narrow strip of land in southeastern louisiana, stretches southern shore of lake pontchartrain grand isle on gulf of mexico. adjacent orleans , plaquemines parishes on east , st. charles , lafourche parishes on west, named after president thomas jefferson, responsible louisiana purchase.

the police jury of jefferson parish passed resolution of library establishment in 1946, , first public library opened november 30, 1949.

branches opened in major cities , towns. @ first, none of original library buildings owned parish. headquarters , gretna branch @ huey p. long , fourth streets on west bank, later moved lafayette street, , second second street. gretna branch in 1968 moved out of headquarters building on second street current location on willow drive. metairie, jefferson, kenner, harahan, marrero, gretna, , westwego branches opened in december 1949. first lafitte branch opened in town firehouse, , moved in 1982 present location on highway 45. one-room grand isle branch opened in january 1950.

the harahan branch, built in 1955, oldest parish library in operation. wagner branch, named former parish librarian charles wagner, opened in 1964. headquarters building on causeway boulevard opened in 1967, closed stacks. grand isle branch, destroyed hurricane betsy in 1965, rebuilt in 1970. terrytown branch on west bank opened in 1974, , largest library in system until belle terre branch built in 1981. live oak library built on unexcavated ruins of live oak plantation in 1980s.

the rosedale library on jefferson highway completed in 1987. north kenner branch, opened in 1985, became largest parish library, superseded old metairie branch, completed in 1988. west bank regional built , opened in 1990, upon recommendations of hbw associates of dallas, library consultant firm did detailed study of library system in 1983.

the new westwego library opened in 1995, , largest branch on west bank, , fourth largest in library system. lakeshore branch, located near historical bucktown, opened in 1995 well. new flagship library of system new east bank regional, opened in 1997 100,000 feet of public space , collection of 300,000 volumes.

the marrero branch, in rented building on west bank , recommended closing 1983 library study, closed in 1997. in 1997, when library administration attempted close kenner library, housed in small storefront on williams boulevard, opposed members of jefferson parish council. kenner library closed august 1, 1998.

a bookmobile provided state library, , 1952 there 3 bookmobiles, 1 each side of river , 1 colored service. service continued until late 60 s when library began phasing out 5 bookmobiles. last 2 bookmobiles replaced in 1986 vans used current outreach services, serving nursing homes, daycare centers, , qualified homebound individuals on both banks of river.

the library s catalog , many other internet functions automated in late 1980s, , branches first went on-line in 1990. public microcomputers added public use in 90s.

over past several years, hurricanes gustav, katrina , rita extensively damaged several of libraries:

belle terre library: hurricane katrina damaged more 50% of library, requiring extensive renovations. east bank regional library: minor water damage , wind damage on roof hurricane katrina. grand isle library: severe damage hurricanes katrina , gustav, requiring rebuilt. gretna library: hurricanes katrina , gustav damaged 70% of library, requiring rebuilt. harahan library: minor damage hurricane katrina, requiring moderate restoration. lafitte library: moderate damage hurricane katrina badly damaged hurricane rita, requiring rebuilt. lakeshore library: hurricane katrina damaged 70% of library, requiring rebuilt. live oak library: hurricanes katrina , rita damaged 33% of library, requiring extensive renovations. north kenner library: damage during hurricane katrina , damage 33% of library hurricane rita, requiring extensive renovations. old metairie library: hurricane katrina damaged 15% of library, requiring modest restoration. rosedale library: virtually no damage hurricanes katrina , rita. terrytown library: hurricane katrina damaged 20% of library, requiring moderate restoration. wagner library: hurricane katrina damaged 40% of library, requiring extensive renovations. west bank regional library: hurricanes katrina , rita damaged 35% of library, requiring extensive renovations. westwego library: hurricane katrina damaged 33% of library, requiring extensive renovations. revised: october 2008

for more information current status of library, view director s status report here. http://katrina.jefferson.lib.la.us/statusreport.htm