The Lake Charles Public Library was founded in 1901, when W. S. B. McLaren, President of the North American Land and Timber Company of London, England, visited Lake Charles and -- through area Manager Austin V. Eastman -- donated the land at the corner of Pujo and Bilbo Street, provided that Andrew Carnegie would donate $10,000 for a building, and the city would appropriate not less than $1,000 annually for maintenance.

By March 1904, the Carnegie Memorial Library was open to the public, serving a population of 5,000 with a collection of 706 volumes. The library was not damaged in the Great Fire of 1910, partially due to the private water supply of the Majestic Hotel, which was then located across the street.

Hurricanes and time weathered the library, and in 1949, a bond issue was passed by the citizens of Lake Charles to build a new one. After three years of construction, the present Carnegie Memorial Library opened to the public on March 14, 1952. The Library was called the "Lake Charles Public Library."

Calcasieu Parish Public Library

     In 1944, members of the first Calcasieu Parish Public Library Board of Control met in the Police Jury Office of the Calcasieu Parish Courthouse. There was to be a Demonstration Library, supervised by the Louisiana Library Commission, which would operate for one year. At the end of the trial period, residents of Calcasieu Parish would have the opportunity to vote whether they wanted a public library system to remain in the parish. Miss Sallie Farrell was appointed as the first Parish Librarian of Calcasieu Parish. Headquarters for the system would be in Lake Charles, at Kirby and Hodges Streets, with branches located in municipalities throughout the parish.

     On April 4, 1973, the Calcasieu Parish Police Jury passed Ordinance #1442, effecting the consolidation of the Lake Charles Public Library and the Calcasieu Parish Public Library. On August 1, 1973, the Calcasieu Parish Police Jury authorized its president to enter into a joint services agreement with the City of Lake Charles with respect to the number of members of the library board and their means of selection. The consolidation of the two library systems was effective January 1, 1974.

     On January 20, 1990, the voters of Calcasieu Parish voted to renew the library's millage, and increase the millage to 4.57. Also approved that day was a $12 million bond issue for the expansion and renovation of all thirteen banches of the library system. Total square footage increased from 51,542 to 115,586.

     Today, the Library System has 14 branches: Bell City, Carnegie Memorial, Central Library, DeQuincy, Epps Memorial, Fontenot Memorial, Hayes, Iowa, Maplewood, Moss Bluff, Starks, SWLA Genealogical & Historical Library, Sulphur Regional, and Westlake.
The main branch and administrative offices are located at the Central Library at 301 West Claude Street. Our Carnegie Memorial Library branch houses the popular materials library, the SWLA Genealogical & Historical Library, and our Collection and Computing Services department.

     The Library System has a collection of books, magazines, audio-visual materials, books on cd, compact discs, videotapes, dvds as well as a digital library collection.

     We offer electronic resources within the library environment plus remote access. These resources include online encyclopedias, historical newspapers, language learning products, e-reference materials, and more.