The newest branches of the St. Tammany Library are now open.

The Business Reference Library at 3457 U.S. Highway 190 in the Pontchartrain Square Shopping Center next to the Causeway branch and the Black River branch at 1519 Louisiana Highway 22 W. held a “soft opening” Monday with a grand opening ceremony scheduled for a later date, Assistant Library Director Don Westmoreland said.

The two branches were scheduled to open several months ago, but because of furniture shipment delays, the opening dates were postponed until now. The Black River branch comes after Katrina did irreparable damage to the Madisonville branch. It becomes the westernmost branch of the library and primarily was opened to serve the residents in Madisonville and surrounding areas.

The idea behind the interior design was to provide people with a modern day bookstore atmosphere with comfortable seating areas and carpeting. The branch is also the first to check out laptops with wireless Internet capabilities to residents for use in the branch.

The Business Reference Library is also a first of its kind for the St. Tammany Parish Library system, boasting mostly reference materials, unavailable to check out, that will cater to entrepreneurs and business connoisseurs.

Many of the materials provide easy step by step “How to” books that can help kick start a beginning business by addressing different facets of a corporation like writing business plans.

The library also boasts enclosed rooms with printers and laptops that can be used as meeting grounds with potential clients.

Another feature included in the library will be free lectures and one on one instructional lessons given by local economic groups and organizations, including Southeastern Louisiana University and the St. Tammany Economic Development Foundation.

For more information on these or other branches, visit www.sttammany.lib.la.us.