Vidalia &8212; The Vidalia branch of the Concordia Parish Library is about to get a whole new look.

Contracts were signed at the Concordia Parish Library Board meeting last week, and library Director Amanda Taylor said construction will begin in mid-November.

Don M. Barron Contractors, the construction firm for the project, is also heading up work on the Vidalia Gateway and Welcome Center, which will also begin construction in the next few weeks.

&8220;We&8217;re so excited about this,&8221; Taylor said. &8220;We&8217;re going to fulfill what we promised to taxpayers.&8221;

The library receives money from a tax passed in 1998 that is used for library construction and the bookmobile.

Barron initially bid $1,488,000 on the project, and the Taylor and the architects, Paul Stewart of Monroe, La., and Phillips Swager Associates of Dallas to change a few minor aspects of the project and lower the total to $1,444,000. The library has more than $1.2 million in savings and should be able to cover the additional cost with money from this year, Taylor said.

The bids received in September, including Barron&8217;s bid, were higher than the library had hoped for, Taylor said.

&8220;We were a little nervous with the money but afraid to rebid in case prices were going even higher,&8221; Taylor said. &8220;We knew we better go on an do it.&8221;

The renovation and expansion should proceed in a similar manner to the work done a few years ago at the Ferriday branch.

&8220;We will remain open throughout the construction period, though there will be some times when we won&8217;t know exactly where everything is and patrons will have to have some patience,&8221; Taylor said. &8220;Patrons will be inconvenienced some, but it will be worth it in the end and we&8217;re going to do this as quickly as possible.&8221;