The East Baton Rouge Parish Library System’s bookmobiles, archives and data center could move into a new home at the corner of North Boulevard and South Acadian Thruway as soon as early spring, according to Assistant Library Director Mary Stein. However, that timeline is contingent on the finalization of the building purchase in the next 90 days.
In November, the Metro Council gave the library system approval to buy the building at 3434 North Blvd. for $1.15 million. Stein says the system now has the building under contract, although a ‘For Sale’ sign remains on the property’s parking lot.
Stein says the sale is in a 90-day limbo period required for certain inspections the city-parish conducts before it makes a purchase, similar to the home inspection and appraisal process for residential home buys.
That includes an asbestos inspection. The Department of Public Works must order the inspection, Stein says, and it has many other projects on its list ahead of the library’s property. Stein says that inspection won’t be done until the new year.
If the building does have asbestos, that won’t necessarily stop the library from making the purchase. Stein says the city-parish has a process for asbestos abatement as well. If the deal closes—which Stein expects to happen in February—the building could then see minor renovations.
“New paint, new flooring, and we have some lighting issues,” Stein says. “You do want certain kinds of lighting that won’t fade the books, and once you put up book stacks, it sucks a lot of the light out of the room.”
Those changes can be made in time for an early spring move-in date, Stein says.
The library system has been looking for a location to bring its outreach services together for some time, as a deal fell through early this year for the former Ethan Allen building on Florida Boulevard, which has since become an American Freight Furniture. —Kelly Connelly
