FERRIDAY, La. – To borrow up to $700,000 to double the size of its Ferriday branch, the Concordia Parish Library needs a resolution of support from the parish’s Police Jury -and it plans to ask for one Monday.

&uot;We plan to ask the State Bond Commission for permission to borrow up to $700,000, but the law states that we have to get a resolution from the Police Jury to do that,&uot; said Parish Librarian Amanda Taylor.

The money would be borrowed against the proceeds of a 10-year, 8.5-mill property tax voters passed last year. The rest of the project’s estimated $1 million cost will be covered with funds the library’s board has already saved, Taylor said.

The board hopes to advertise for bids for the project in September and accept a bid the following month. The project should take about 15 months to complete.

The library, which was built in 1950, is cramped for space. Shelves of books are spaced only inches apart in some rooms, and there is not enough room for all employees to have desks. The current facility is 5,000 square feet; with the addition, it will contain 12,000 square feet.

The addition will provide a larger area for adult fiction and nonfiction, a room for educational and children’s summer programs and an area where patrons can read newspapers and magazines and use the Internet.

When the library now holds programs for large groups, employees have to vacate the library’s work room, which doubles as a programming room. But the addition will include a new work area, including a desk for each staff member and two storage closets.

The current employee work room will become a children’s area with books, a story time space and children’s computers. The existing front room will house the library’s electronic catalog and computerized files.

The project will also add two new public restrooms; more parking for staff and patrons, including disabled people; and new ramps for the disabled. To lessen inconvenience for patrons, the addition will be completed before existing space is renovated.