BATON ROUGE — The LSU Board of Supervisors on Friday approved a plan for a new 193,000-square foot library that is expected to start construction in 2026.

The new library, located on Field House Drive, has been in the works for a few years and progress will start to be made soon after the schematics for the complex were given the go-ahead by the school's governing body. 

Last year, LSU officials said the new library would cost $152 million. LSU also said that it's part of a plan to build another quadrangle near Patrick F. Taylor Hall.

According to the board's agenda, the facility will have multiple uses beyond books including study spaces and "emerging creative technology."

BOS committee approves this schematic for the new LSU library which will be located on Field House Drive @WBRZ pic.twitter.com/DZooImJ2Ns

— Bess Casserleigh (@BCasserleigh) February 21, 2025

As development continues, the current LSU Library, built in 1959 in the heart of campus, will continue to house library collections and services.

The new facility likely would not be open until 2029, meaning that even traditional four-year degree candidates who are freshmen now won't get to use the new facility because they will graduate in 2028.