First Library Established in Catahoula Parish

In 1925, Essae Culver, the first State Librarian of Louisiana, led a project to establish public libraries in rural Louisiana.  The model included a large central library in Baton Rouge with a branch at every parish seat with 50-300 library books rotated among all branches.

It was 1949 before the Catahoula Parish Library branch was established in Harrisonburg. Essae Culver, pictured below, spoke at the grand opening in Harrisonburg.

Another photograph shows the crowd that gathered for the 1949 grand opening in Harrisonburg.

The photograph below was also taken at the grand opening.

The building which currently houses the Catahoula Parish Library in Harrisonburg was built in 1969.