In 1902, the New Orleans Public Library received a $250,000 grant from Andrew Carnegie to build four new Library locations, including one Uptown, known then as the Napoleon Library. More than a century later, that little Library is still serving its community today, but under a different name: the Children’s Resource Center Library.
The Library opened on January 31, 1908, and is one of the New Orleans Public Library’s oldest operating locations –– second only to Cita Dennis Hubbell Library, which opened just over a month earlier in Algiers Point. Located on Napoleon Avenue between Camp and Magazine streets, the building was dedicated as a Historic Landmark in 1979 and renamed the Children’s Resource Center Library in 1993.
For many years, the Children’s Resource Center provided materials, services, and programs for all ages, but was recently closed for significant structural repairs. The closure gave the Library the opportunity to return the center to its original goal as an early literacy center.
Linda Gielec was the CRC’s manager for 13 of her 17 with the New Orleans Public Library.
“I loved working here. It’s a friendly, cozy, and open place for all to gather and learn,” she said. “And, as one of only two operating historic Carnegie branch libraries in the city of New Orleans, it’s also an important piece of history.”
One of the things Gielec said mades the Children’s Resource Center Library so special is her staff: Jeff Bostick, Marian Osborne, Jeff Thornton, and Pam Butler.
“I feel so lucky to be able to lead such a kind, caring team who are all so dedicated to serving the public in any way possible,” Gielec said.
In its 118 years of operation, the Children’s Resource Center Library has been important to countless families, including Jacob and Courtney Landry, who have been using this Library for more than a decade.
“This was actually the first place I ever brought our daughter Cora after she was born. We came for a storytime when she was just two weeks old. And, of course, she started crying and we had to leave early, but I’ll never forget it,” Courtney said.
Despite the rocky start, the Landrys continued to take Cora and their older son Jack to the Children’s Resource Center regularly, meeting up with another group of families for storytime every Monday. The family continued that tradition with their youngest son Luke, and Courtney said now all three kids feel right at home there.
“We live just a few blocks away. So it’s great to be able to walk over, and all of them feel really at home here,” Courtney said. “They’ve definitely grown up here, especially Cora and Jack, but I’m sure Luke will too.”
And at 11 years old, the oldest Landry now has his own Library card, which his mom said has been a point of pride.
“Jack has his own card now, and he loves that,” she said. “He likes to be able to request his own books and handle his own business. It makes him feel grown up and independent.”
For Cora and Luke, being on their parents’ card suits them just fine, Courtney said, as long as they have a steady stream of new reading materials.
In addition to being a home away from home for children and families, the CRC also houses the Pebbles Collection –– a partnership between the New Orleans Public Library and the Tulane University Stone Center for Latin American Studies –– and houses a special catalog of Latin American-centered items.
Denise Woltering-Vargas is a program manager for the Stone Center and helped to establish the Pebbles Center, which started in 2004 at the CRC. In the years since, the Pebbles Center grew into the Pebbles Collection, which now provides materials to all 15 Library locations.
Though they live closer to Broadmoor’s Rosa F. Keller Library & Community Center, the Woltering-Vargas family makes a point of coming to the Children’s Resource Center as often as they can.
Denise and Ricardo Woltering-Vargas started bringing their daughter Belisa here when she was just 3 years old and continued to come as a family after the birth of their son Dennis. Now, both children feel at home inside the Library, Denise said, and have cultivated a familiar relationship with the staff there.
“Linda is so wonderful and welcoming and has really helped to make them feel comfortable being here,” she said. “My son is around the same age my daughter was when we started coming here, which is kind of sweet to see. He likes playing with the games and puzzles, and loves sitting underneath the tree for storytime, just like his big sister did.”
Like the Landry family, the Woltering-Vargases’ visits to the Children’s Resource Center are social ones.
“It’s close to a lot of my friends, so whenever we come, we call them up and get a group together to go to the Library for a program or storytime,” Denise said. “It’s just a nice way for us to see each other and for our kids to get together and do something positive in our community.”
The Landrys and Woltering-Vargases are just two of the families who have found a home inside the Children’s Resource Center Library in the 113 years of its existence, and they surely will not be the last.
“We hope to continue to bring joy and information to the city of New Orleans for many, many more years,” Gielec said. “We’ve done it for more than a century, and we will never give up on it.”
Last May, the Children’s Resource Center Library was closed for a significant renovation, including structural repairs. The renovation was managed by the Capital Projects Administration, and included new plaster, bathroom upgrades and ADA compliance, new floors, new gutters and downspouts, masonry work, HVAC repairs and new ductwork, and water damage repairs.
While the building was closed, the Library took the opportunity to return it to its original purpose as an early literacy center. This decision was guided our 10-year strategic plan, which identified low early literacy rates as a key concern that the community expects the Library to address.
Under the leadership of Morgan Hanrahan, the Library’s newly appointed head of early literacy, the Children’s Resource Center officially reopened to the public on September 29, 2026. The Children’s Resource Center is staffed by a team of early literacy librarians and associates and will serve as the central point for providing consistent and carefully curated early literacy programming, resources, collections, and more, including:
In 1902, the New Orleans Public Library received a $250,000 grant from Andrew Carnegie to build four new Library locations, including one Uptown, known then as the Napoleon Library. More than a century later, that little Library is still serving its community today, but under a different name: the Children’s Resource Center Library.
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