By LEONARD GRAY

ST. ROSE – St. Charles Parish library director Mary des Bordes has already made her mark in her four-year tenure, with the new St. Rose branch nearing its scheduled June opening.

“People are anxious and excited about the new library,” she commented, while walking through the construction site

The new library branch will be located near the entrance to Charlestowne Subdivision on River Road.

The $1.2 million facility was designed with much input from library staff, des Bordes said, and added, “We’re hoping that we thought of most everything.”

This is the first library branch to be built in St. Charles Parish since the East Regional Library in Destrehan opened 24 years ago.

From the public parking for nearly 40 vehicles to the large, 60-person meeting room and the towering lobby, the branch was built with growth in mind.

“We planned space for things most don’t think about,” des Bordes observed, including storage space. The library was designed to have “a comfortable, bookstore-type environment,” she added.

Furniture bids are going out this week, she continued, and the budget is remaining on track, with no cost overruns.

The new branch will be staffed with three full-time and two to four part-time employees. The facility is 10,000 square feet, placed on a 55,000 square foot site.

Groundbreaking for the new branch was held in October.

The construction, by Favolora Construction of Kenner, is being paid for through the library’s 4.9-mill tax, carefully conserved over years to build up capital projects funds.

The St. Rose branch, the first for the area, was previously served only by bookmobile, which is primarily geared for shut-ins unable to reach a branch.

To get an idea of how the finished library will look once completed, go to the library’s Internet Web site at www.stcharles.lib.la.us.

The St. Charles Parish Library was first opened in 1955, with branches in Norco and Hahnville, according to the library’s webpage. They are now located at 197 Good Hope St. and at 14996 River Road.

A satellite branch opened for a short time in Mimosa Park, which developed the West Regional branch at 105 Lakewood Drive in 1977. The new East Regional branch opened at 100 River Oaks Drive in Destrehan in 1978.

The next capital project will likely be expansion of that East Regional branch, she concluded.