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 Museum established in 1906 to fulfill this role. The Presbytere and the Cabildo buildings, located on either side of the St. Louis Cathedral on Jackson Square, were some of the first properties that the Louisiana State Museum was lodged in. The Louisiana State Museum now has thirteen properties around the state: historic structures, museums open to the public, and modern purpose-built buildings. Over the past 100-plus years, the Louisiana State Museum has not only operated museums and maintained buildings, but it has served as the repository for all things historic from the state’s past. As Louisiana has been part of a