East Baton Rouge Parish Library

The East Baton Rouge Parish Library (EBRPL) was established in 1939 with a collection of second-hand donated books. During its first three years, the library established eight additional library branches to service the Baton Rouge area. Today, EBRPL is comprised of a Main Library and 13 community or regional branch libraries, and several bookmobiles. With a staff of more than 540 employees, the Library is open a cumulative total of 958 hours weekly. Additional outreach service is provided on a regular basis to area schools, day care centers, retirement centers, and various community centers. The Library&s;s collection numbers almost 2 million items. Last year, our 325,303 registered borrowers made 2,212,004 visits to local libraries, checked out 2,434,723 items, and received assistance with 885,764 reference inquiries. Nearly 319,662 patrons participated in more than 7,700 library programs and 55,699 patrons attended community meetings in Library meeting rooms. EBRPL is the recipient of numerous national and state awards including the Modisette Award for Excellence from the Louisiana Library Association and the President&s;s Coming Up Taller Award. Recently, the Library received a Starred Ranking from Library Journal for the second consecutive year.