How the Terrebonne Parish Library System came to be

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By Lillian LeCompte, Reference Department TPL

Libraries have been community hubs for decades, but do you know the history of your library?

Terrebonne Parish Public Library

The Terrebonne Parish Library System is a multi-branch system that grew out of a small club from the 1920s. The B.E.S.T.W.S was a social club formed in August of 1927 as a book discussion. The name was derived from the surnames of its six original members: Jessie Lea Bethume; Harriet Elster; Ruth Smith; Eunice Thompson; Marguerite Watkins; and Helen Smith. By April of 1929, the women wanted to branch out and do more for the community. They underwent a name change to go along with this goal and opened a public library as the Terrebonne Literary Club.

The Terrebonne Literary Club opened to the public in the People’s Bank Building in May of 1929. The newly formed library consisted of 428 donated books and the City Government, Police Jury, School Board provided the funding for other materials to add to the catalog. Even though it was only open three days a week, it became extraordinarily successful. No library is complete without a librarian, so the club hired Sylvia Ray Johnson as the first librarian. The Terrebonne Literary Club’s endeavor became a lasting community service, no matter where they had to move.

Essae M. Culver, State Librarian Credits: State Library of Louisiana Pulled from Louisiana Digital Library

When People’s Bank was sold to the City of Houma in 1933, the club had to relocate the library to an available room in the now demolished Houma Central School for the summer. They then relocated to the Daspit Building until June of the same year, but the library was getting so popular that the Club members’ small staff was becoming insufficient to support growing demand. A group consisting of the City Government, Police Jury, School Board, and individual citizens recognized the need for a permanent public library and were determined to see it happen. They donated a building to become a permanent residence for the Terrebonne Parish library that was big enough to house the library’s growing catalog and patronage. The building was near the Terrebonne Parish Junior High School (now the Clerk of Courts). The new site helped, but the small staff still needed assistance to help the expanding community. The Club sought the support of the Louisiana Library Commission (now the Louisiana State Library) in February of 1939. Essae Martha Culver, a state librarian from the Louisiana Library Commision, agreed to run the Terrebonne Parish library (which later became the Main Library once other branches were erected) with the Club, giving them a year to amass the tools necessary to run the library without her help. By November of the same year, the library moved once again to its well-known spot on the corner of Roussell and Verret. Now firmly established as the Terrebonne Public Library, the location on 424 Roussell was a renovated wood house with a fireplace at its center—the perfect place to sit and read. As Culver helped the Club run their library, the members started to figure out how they could make it on their own. In November of 1940, the Terrebonne Parish citizens voted to continue library services, and the Terrebonne Parish Library Board of Control became the primary governing body of the library.

The new cozy wooden library was a community hub for 13 years, until a new, bigger 8,500 square foot stone and brick building was built at the same location to accommodate the library patronage and catalog in 1953. In 1996, though, the Library Board of Control assessed that the library system’s collection was not big enough or varied enough to meet the needs of the public. There was a shortage of employees, the buildings were not up-to-date, and there was an inadequate array of technology. A goal was formed: meet state standards and become a flourishing library system. By 1998, the Library Board of Control hired a public library building consultant, held focus groups throughout the parish, and board members and staff attended workshops on designing public libraries to try to boost the library to state standards and address the inadequacies. The result was a new main library designed to service the needs of the parish for coming generations. After years of planning and building, the library system closed the 8,500 square foot, five-decades-old Main Library on the corner of Roussell and Verret and opened shop in the massive 70,000 square foot Main Library building on Library Drive on April 24, 2003, the current site of the Terrebonne Parish Main Library.

LDL Wooden Library on Roussell and Verret

Terrebonne Parish Public Library on the Corner of Roussell and Verret, 1939 Credits: State Library of Louisiana.

What used to be a modest literary club became a modest library that expanded into a multi-branch library system which continues to adapt to the needs of the public. We plan to remain a community center for decades to come, providing the people of Terrebonne Parish and surrounding areas with all the support, education, and recreation we can give. The next time you browse the collections at any of our locations, take a moment to appreciate the pioneering work of Jessie Lea Bethume, Harriet Elster, Ruth Smith, Eunice Thompson, Marguerite Watkins, Helen Smith and the B.E.S.T.W.S Club. We are fast approaching the 100th anniversary of public libraries in Terrebonne Parish, and the libraries hope to see you all there!