VIDALIA — Blue carpeting, warm colors and piano music welcomed library-goers into Concordia Parish Library’s Vidalia branch Thursday after an approximately eight-month renovation.

The library celebrated a grand reopening, showcasing the second-floor extension and renovations.

As more people came to explore the additions, Congressman Ralph Abraham was on hand to address the crowd.

“Libraries are the heart of any community,” Abraham said.

The new extension features meeting rooms, and are something library director Amanda Taylor said are in demand

“There’s just not a private public space where people can go work on a project, talk about an issue,” Taylor said.

The new areas could be used for things such as tutoring as well as by the business community, Taylor said.

“We really want to reach out to the business community and help them in any way we can,” Taylor said.

Guylyn Boles, who has been living in Vidalia since 1956 and is a longtime library patron, said the meeting areas would also be good for attorneys to take depositions.

“I love it,” Boles said about the renovation. “I like the little private meeting rooms that can be used, the classroom setting.”

Boles also likes the library’s colors, a feeling she shares with Abraham.

“This library has very warm, inviting colors that welcome you in,” Abraham said.

The renovation was 25 years in the making, Taylor said.

The money for the renovation came from the library tax millage, and totaled approximately $500,000, she said.

“We did not borrow any money,” Taylor said. “We saved our money, and it’s totally paid for.”

Work started in the last week of December, Taylor said, culminating in the renovation celebrated Thursday.

But the second-floor extension isn’t the only new thing in the library. The light fixtures and carpet are new, Taylor said, and the first floor also now features something new.

“We have a new teen area that we put in that is downstairs,” Taylor said.

The area, located to the left of the main desk, has a few chairs as well as teen novels.

It also has a great view of the library’s fountain that, along with the outdoor furniture, was recently repainted. The fountain also had new lights installed, Taylor said.

And on the day of the grand reopening, Taylor said she was pleased with the results.

“I think that my citizens are happy with what they see, and that makes me happy, because it’s all about them,” Taylor said.