New library dedicated next Friday

PHOTO: The 1950s era building that housed the St. Martin Parish public library’s Breaux Bridge branch (left) has been replaced by a state-of-the-art facility designed by local architect Glenn Angelle to meet the demands of a digiitally oriented public. The new building will be dedicated Friday. (Sally Angelle)

Dedication of the new St. Martin Parish Library Breaux Bridge Branch will be held Friday, May 8, 10 a.m. to noon, at the branch location, 205 N. Main St.
Built at a cost of $3,059,900, the 12,558 square-foot facility includes a meeting room rated for 120 persons, a computer lab for eight, conference room for 20, children’s program area that will hold 50, two collaborative study rooms large enough for six each, a special genealogy conference room that will hold 10, and a quiet study room.
The library has shelf capacity for 33,500 items, a total of 18 computers, including four each for teens and younger children, five study tables for adults, four for teens and three for children.
Local architect Glenn Angelle designed the new library, starting ack in 2012.
In December 2013 the library moved to a temporary location in the Park Plaza Shopping Center so the old building could be destoryed and a new old built in an expanded footprint, overlapping some of the area previously occupied by the parish Agricultural Building next door.
The St. Martin Parish Library System was established in 1955, largely through the efforts of the late Edith Steckler, who served as library chairman of the Business and Professional Woman’s Club.
On Jan. 9, 1955, the Breaux Bridge Branch opened its doors at 200 East Bridge St., soon moving to property donated by the Breaux Bridge Town Council at the current location on the corner of Courthouse and Main streets.