BATON ROUGE – After about a month of closing its doors and moving to a temporary location, the River Center Branch library started demolition this week.

Officials say they plan to wrap up demolition by Oct. 4 and construction of the new library will go into summer or fall of 2018 with an opening soon after. The project is estimated to cost about $19 million, which includes the demolition, new branch construction, new furniture and computers.

The library will pay for the new branch and other items with money already budgeted and collected. The temporary branch, commonly referred to as the KRESS Building located on 3rd Street, opened on July 28.

The interim Library focuses on meeting the reading, research and technological needs of the community, offering public computers, WiFi, printing and a popular browsing collection.  The bulk of the branch's collection will remain in storage for the duration of the River Center Branch Library Construction Project.

The temporary Library site location's general information is:
Phone numbers: 
225/389-4967  Circulation
225/389-4964  Reference      
225/389-4959  Children's Room

Normal business hours: 
Monday – Thursday  -- 8 am – 7 pm
Friday & Saturday  -- 9 am – 6 pm
Sunday -- 2 pm – 6 pm.
The River Center Branch Manager is Allison Cooper. 

For more information about the River Center Branch Construction Project, visit http://ebrpl.libguides.com/rivercenter.