Celebration will be April 7 – 8
The St. Charles Parish West Regional Library is holding its grand re-opening festivities April 7 and 8, celebrating its return after being closed a year for renovations.
While the library has technically been open since Feb. 20, the grand opening will officially commemorate the improved facility, which is at 105 Lakewood Drive in Luling.
According to library spokeswoman Lauren Pitz, the two-day celebration will include a ribbon cutting ceremony at 3 p.m., a special planetarium show and tour of the library on April 7. The next morning, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. there will be more planetarium shows and a story walk for kids. The event also will include crafts, exhibits and demonstrations of the library’s new 3-D printers.
“We’ll have the formal ribbon cutting and dedication on the first day, and then Saturday will be more of a celebration, a fun atmosphere for the entire family,” Pitz said. “We think the improvements should attract even more people to enjoy the library. We’re starting to see more people already.”
The $1.8 million renovation included the addition of a computer lab and more public computers, more study rooms and upgraded, larger meeting rooms. A new entrance to the planetarium from inside the library was also added, and lighting was improved.
The building’s windows and roof received additional work and an IT closet was installed on the second floor of the building, which serves to improve Internet speed by housing data cable.
Areas for reading have also been revamped in sections for children, teens and adults. Space for laptop use and to access the internet have been added as well. “It’s made a lot of things flow better,” Pitz said. The project architect was + One Design in Baton Rouge.
While renovations were underway, the West Regional Library worked out of a temporary location on 12439 Highway 90 next to Perque Carpet and Pizza Hut, beginning March 14 of last year. Renovations began in April.
Of course, in addition to the renovations, the library re-opening also yields access to things the library couldn’t offer at its smaller temporary location, which provided patrons use of about 10 computers, photocopiers and a small browsing collection. With the library now fully open and back on site, those public needs have been addressed and patrons can once again make use of things like its planetarium, which began featuring public shows again March 4.
The planetarium has 42 theater-style seats and a digital projector that creates an immersive view of the stars and planets of the universe.
The library is open Monday-Thursday from 9 a.m. – 8 p.m. and Friday-Saturday from 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. It is closed on Sunday.
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