LIBRARY BLOG

Happy 20th Anniversary to Main

Chances are when you talk to anyone down here about their childhood, “Old Main” comes up in stories of how people spent their days as children. Old Main is the affectionate moniker for the old, well-loved Main library on the corner of Roussell and Verret Streets, now the Terrebonne Parish Sherrif’s Office. Around the turn of the century, plans for a new, bigger main library to serve the growing public were underway. In September of 2001, a groundbreaking ceremony was held with several members of the library board of control and the library’s director in attendance. As seen in the first photo in the slideshow below, they are Library Director Mary Cosper LeBoeuf, parish councilman Harold Lapeyre, library board member Peter Bourgeois Sr., Terrebonne Parish School Board member and library board member L.P. Bordelon, library board member Pam Lemoine, library board member Andrea B. Lawson, Library Board Director Charles Davidson, library board member Mary Royston, and library board member Dr. Mike Flynn, symbolically shoveling dirt from the future site of the library*. Also in attendance but not in the provided photo were former Library Director Margaret Shaffer and library board member J.J. Buquet. Planning took ten years and construction took nearly two years, making the grand opening almost 12 years in the making. The various stages of its creation were well documented, photographed below.

Finally, in April of 2003, it was ready for operation. A dedication ceremony took place on April 23, 2003 with much fanfare. Leaving Old Main was like leaving a childhood home. Library staff and patrons alike assembled to parade the 1.1-mile march from the old building they all knew and loved, to the new, state-of-the-art building to mark the changing of an era. The parade included a marching band, scout troops, families, and student Brittany Hebert carrying the oldest book in the collection—Acts Passed at the Second Session of the 11th Legislature of the State of Louisiana, published in 1834. At the front doors of this massive new library, Scout Troop 339 led a dedication and flag-raising ceremony, followed by a ribbon cutting and speeches by Louisiana State Librarian Tom Jaques, Parish President Bobby Bergeron, and Parish Council President Clayton Voisin. Thomas Whitney Sr. of Cheremie Whitney Associates, one of the primary architects working on new main library, died before construction was complete. At the opening ceremony, Library Board member Dr. Mike Flynn announced that the amphitheater near the Children’s Department would be deticated in Whitney’s name at a later date.

*Job positions listed are the board member’s positions at the time of 2001.