Although the Algiers Regional Branch did not flood, the building suffered major roof damage. As a result, wind driven rain entered the building, ruining its contents. The gutted branch is currently being used as a holding and sorting space for the thousands of book donations sent to us from around the world.

Meanwhile, Algiers Regional patrons are being served by a mobile library, a fully equipped trailer donated by Proquest Information & Learning. The ProQuest/IBM Internet & Homework Library trailer was formally presented to NOPL on June 25, 2006, during the American Library Association Annual Meeting in New Orleans.

In the near future, the AR trailer will be replaced by a larger modular building, funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's Gulf Coast Libraries Project.

Click here for post-Katrina images of Algiers Regional

The Alvar Street Branch, in the Bywater neighborhood downriver from the French Quarter, took on about a foot of water. Although the building (built as a Works Progress Administration project in 1940) remained structurally sound, its contents were completely ruined.

But Alvar has been rescued! A team led by Library Journal worked with NOPL to completely renovate the branch. Other lead members of the team included major donor Capital One, architects Meyer, Scherer, & Rockcastle of Minneapolis, E. Eean McNaughton Architects of New Orleans, contractor Citadel Builders, and book supplier Baker & Taylor. (Click here for a full donor list.) The project was completed on an accelerated basis in just four months, culminating in an “Extreme Makeover, Library Edition,” during the American Library Association convention. The branch reopened to the public on July 5, 2006.

Since then, the Alvar Branch has steadily re-established itself in the recovering Bywater Neighborhood. Registration of card-holders and circulation have continue to increase and the branch has hosted the successful Alvar Art Night, sponsored by the Arts Council of New Orleans and the NOPL Foundation. Landscaping (funded by Capital One, Shell Exploration and Production Co., and the Community Reinvestment Fund of the Tides Foundation) has been added in the form of a community pocket park on one side and a secure family reading and play area on the other.

The Alvar Branch is the first NOPL facility to offer self-checkout. The RFID technology that makes this possible was donated by Integrated Technology Group.

Internet is available at the Alvar Branch, including free WiFi.

Click here for images of Jump, Jive, and Join In, Alvar's 2nd reopening event
Read more about the Alvar Branch renovation
Click here to see images from the Alvar reopening
Click here for images of the renovated Alvar Branch
Images of the ruined Alvar Branch are available here

The Children's Resouce Center, in Uptown New Orleans, suffered only minor damage from Katrina and re-opened to the public in early January, 2006. (Despite its name, the CRC is not just for children, but also offers services for adults.)

The CRC, one of NOPL's original Carnegie branches, has undergone a complete interior renovation, courtesy of the American Library Association and library vendors Highsmith, Inc. and Bretford. (Click here for a full donor list.) The renovation was unveiled on June 27, during the ALA Annual Meeting.

A new roof and extensive repairs to its heavily-weathered 99-year-old window frames lead a list of exterior repairs that have been funded and will get underway soon. Making all this possible is the generosity of private donors large and small across the country.

Read more about the CRC makeover
Click here to see images from the CRC makover and reopening
Click here to see images of the renovated CRC
Click here for post-Katrina, pre-renovation images of the CRC

The Einstein Charter School in New Orleans East's Village de L'Est is providing space to house a temporary library that will serve students and the public in New Orleans East as we continue to work toward recovery.

[Note: To find the library, enter through the front of the school. The library is on the left-hand side of the hall.]

The Hubbell Branch is another of NOPL's original Carnegie Branches. Although it was severely damaged by Hurricane Betsy in 1965 and remained closed for several years afterward, the building stood up heroically to Katrina and sustained only minor damage. The branch is open for business at Algiers Point and currently serves as the major library for West Bank New Orleans.

This year, Hubbell celebrates its 100th anniversary. To celebrate, Amy Hubbell (daughter of Cita Dennis Hubbell, for whom the branch is named), the Friends of the Hubbell Library, and NOPL staff have organized eight months of centennial events, culminating in the Friends' annual holiday festival. Check our Current Programming page often for announcements of these upcoming programs.

Click here for post-Katrina images of the Hubbell Branch

The Martin Luther King Branch, our youngest facility, was the most heavily damaged of all of our branches. Located in the devastated Lower 9th Ward, the branch took the brunt of Katrina's storm surge and was completely destroyed.

The King Branch has been our "poster child" for flooded New Orleans libraries. The effect of broken floodwalls and breached levees was the same in other ruined branches, but nowhere else did the water rise so fast, with such force.

But now, thanks to the tireless effort of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Charter School for Science and Technology and to funding from the State of Louisiana Recovery School District and the Gates Foundation's Gulf Coast Libraries Project, the branch and the school that houses it are back! The school reopened to students for the 2007-2008 academic year, and NOPL returned to its former space with a temporary Gates Foundation-funded branch on August 27, not quite two years to the day after Katrina did her worst. The grand reopening of the branch was celebrated on October 5, 2007.

Click here for images of MLK's grand re-opening
Click here for post-Katrina images of the Martin Luther King Branch

The Mid-City Branch, the first of several temporary branches funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation's Gulf Coast Libraries Project, opened to the public on June 11, 2007 to serve a large population that extends from Lakeview to Hollygrove, as well as Mid-City. In addition to regular library services, the spacious 3500-square foot storefront in a recovering commercial area offers Internet access and word processing to library card holders, fax and photocopying services.

Click here to see images of the Mid-City Branch grand opening

The Latter Branch, located in a turn-of-the-century mansion on St. Charles Ave., lost a good many of its roof tiles, but came through Katrina essentially intact. Its reopening early in 2006 was a welcome sign of recovery to its patrons.

The Kemper and Leila Williams Foundation has donated $100,000 for work that will begin a major renovation of the building. The Williams Foundation gift will fund roof and other external repairs needed immediately for its stabilization. Meanwhile, volunteers are helping to refurbish the building's interior.

Click here for post-Katrina images of the Latter Branch

At the Nix Branch in the Carrollton neighborhood, Katrina's winds broke several windows and scattered glass inside, but the storm did little serious damage. Nix reopened to the public in early January, 2006, and resumed its normal services.

Click here for post-Katrina images of Nix

The Smith Branch was inundated by the flood waters that destroyed the Lakeview neighborhood. The branch has been gutted and service has returned to the area in the form of a bookmobile, a donation of the librarians and citizens of Medina County, Ohio. The bookmobile was dedicated on June 26 during the ALA Annual Meeting.

At this time, Internet is not yet available, nor is Wi-Fi, at the Smith Bookmobile. Patrons may check out books, CD's and DVD's. We'll keep you posted about the status of Internet access.

Read more about the Smith bookmobile
Click here for post-Katrina images of Smith

A large modular building will serve the steadily recovering Gentilly community, a large area of mid-century and post-war homes that includes Pontchartrain Park, one of the first "suburban" developments for African-Americans.

At the Keller Branch, a modular building will serve the Broadmoor neighborhood from the site of the flooded Rosa Keller Branch. Residents of the heavily flooded Broadmoor neighborhood have been eager to reopen the Keller library, and have developed a recovery plan with the library, schools, and a new community center at its heart.

In June 2007, the Broadmoor Improvement Association was awarded a $2 million grant from the Carnegie Corporation of New York for the reconstruction, restocking and refurnishing of the Rosa F. Keller Library and Community Center, a building that will serve as the neighborhood’s social and cultural hub.

Link here to read more about the Carnegie award.

Link here to see the Broadmoor Improvement Association volunteers in action in 2006, clearing the Keller grounds of trash and debris.

Click here for post-Katrina images of the Keller Branch

Like almost all of New Orleans East, our East New Orleans Regional Branch (built in 1968) received catastrophic damage. The branch flooded , and its contents were completely destroyed.

The branch's damaged contents have been removed, and the building has been gutted. For now, the branch will remain closed indefinitely, as we seek resources for rebuilding.

Click here for post-Katrina images of the ENO Regional Branch

The Norman Mayer Branch (known to most people as the "Gentilly Branch") originally opened in 1949. Only four years ago, the branch underwent a $300,000 interior and exterior renovation. Katrina destroyed this "new" Gentilly, however, and the branch has been completely gutted.

Click here for post-Katrina images of the Gentilly Branch

The Nora Navra Branch experienced major flooding and total destruction of its contents. Volunteers from the Diversity Caucus of the American Library Association helped to clean the ungutted branch on June 26, a first step toward its eventual recovery.

Click here for post-Katrina images of Nora Navra