The Ouachita Parish Public Library is dedicated to the concept of service to everyone. This encompasses individuals and groups of every age, education, philosophy, occupation, economic level, ethnic origin and human condition. Fulfilling the educational, informational, recreational and technical needs of these people is the Ouachita Parish Public Library's broad purpose. The library serves a diverse community of approximately 160,000 people in the most populated parish in the northeastern part of the state of Louisiana. To meet this mission the library has 10 locations throughout the parish, a bookmobile, and Outreach services.

Specifically, the library's objectives are to:

•To promote enlightened citizenship.
•To enrich the lives of citizens through education and entertainment.
•To encourage continuing self-education.
•To identify and respond to community needs.
•To support the Library Bill of Rights.
•To assemble, preserve and administer book and related materials which support the goals of the library.
•To serve the parish communities as a center of reliable information through a variety of formats.
•To provide free access to library services to every resident in the parish.
•To provide public access to technology and the Internet.

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