Library addition to open soon

Published 6:00 am Thursday, January 11, 2007

The new addition to the Vidalia library will be complete sometime next month, Concordia Parish libraries Director Amanda Taylor said Wednesday.

Taylor said the parish library board is still waiting on deliveries of several light fixtures and furniture, like tables and chairs.

“A lot of these items were custom-made so they’re just a little slower in coming,” Taylor said.

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Taylor said the board is also waiting on the parish fire marshal’s inspection approval.

The new addition is a two-story building at the back of the old Concordia Parish courthouse on Texas Street.

The interior design of the library is a riverboat motif.

Taylor said Natchez business owners Hal Garner of Hal Garner’s Antiques and Interiors and Nancy Laird of Sign Graphics helped with decorating the new addition.

“We’ve etched a seven-panel glass wall featuring a Mississippi River scene with cypress trees, the (Mississippi River) bridge and a river barge,” Laird said Wednesday.

Laird said she is very excited about the library’s completion and can’t wait for the grand opening.

“I think the City of Vidalia is going to be very impressed with everything Amanda has done,” she said.

Taylor said Garner also donated an antique table to the library from the Mississippi steamboat, The Natchez.

In August, Taylor said the success of the library’s construction is due to the people of Concordia Parish and the library board.

“They (the people of Vidalia) have faith in the board and have always voted to keep, and in some cases increase, the millage rate, and the board has worked hard to keep their word and spend what they promised the public,” Taylor said.

Once completed, the 9,600 square foot facility will be completely paid for at a cost of $1.5 million.

Funding for the new library was made possible by (the board) saving the money received from the taxpayers of Concordia Parish for eight years.