State Library of Louisiana State Library of Louisiana The State Library of Louisiana is Louisiana's state library agency, located in Baton Rouge. The current state library was not the first. The Louisiana State Library was created in 1838. It was originally located in New Orleans, which was the state capital at the time. In 1849 the capital was moved to Baton Rouge, and the library also moved. During the Civil War the library was moved back to New Orleans to protect the collection. Only part of the collection was taken, and many of the materials that remained behind were lost or destroyed. The Library
Louisiana State Capitol and the remaining territory east of the Mississippi was turned over to Great Britain. The French reclaimed Louisiana from the Spanish in 1803 after the Treaty of San Ildefonso in 1800; the territory was then sold as the Louisiana Purchase to the United States. The ceremonial transfers of Louisiana from Spain to France took place in front of the colonial seat of government, the Cabildo, in November 1803, with the transfer from France to the U.S. occurring there, as well, less than a month later. New Orleans continued to be the location of the capital of the Territory of Orleans,