A historic New Orleans Public Library branch in Uptown has closed for major renovations that will allow it to reopen as a center for early literacy.
Updates to the library at the corner of Napoleon Avenue and Magazine Street will include new plaster walls inside, new flooring, new gutters and downspouts, repairs to damaged exterior masonry and repairs to damage caused by water infiltration.
Work is expected to be done by summer 2026. The project is expected to cost about $730,000 and will be paid for with bonds and the library’s millage, The Times-Picayune reported.
When it’s completed, the branch known as the Children’s Resource Center Library will have a focus on early literacy.
“The CRC is synonymous with children’s and family activities; we knew that we wanted to keep the focus on young children in this reimagined space,” Heather Riley, the NOPL’s director of public services, said in a statement announcing the project.
She said that Louisiana Department of Education shows that about 70 percent of kindergarten students in the state were not reading at a high enough level as recently as 2023. “This center is a continuation of our efforts and a definite mark on where we stand — that early literacy is a priority and how dedicated we are to serving our little ones.”
The building opened on Jan. 31, 1908, and is the second-oldest NOPL branch. The oldest is the Cita Dennis Hubbell Library in Algiers Point, which opened weeks earlier on Dec. 28, 1907. Both locations were built with grants from Andrew Carnegie.
The Napoleon Avenue location was dedicated as a historic landmark in 1979 and renamed the Children’s Resource Center Library in 1993, according to the NOPL. While the location has a focus on children, it provides materials and services for patrons of all ages.
