The Rosa F. Keller Library and Community Center is located in the Broadmoor neighborhood of New Orleans, Louisiana. It stands on the corner of Napoleon Avenue and South Broad Street which serve as the north/south, and east/west markers in the neighborhood. The library is a branch of the greater New Orleans Public Library System. The Broadmoor branch serves as one of the only centers for community engagement in the neighborhood and hosts adult education classes, art workshops, after-school activities for children, and community events throughout the year. It opened its doors on March 17, 2012.
Early history
The original building housing the Rosa F. Keller Library served as a private family residence for many years before being sold to the city in 1990. One of the first homes in the area, Mrs. Ethel Aubert Hardie purchased the eight-room stucco home after its completion in 1918 at a cost of $9500. It was one of the most recognizable landmarks in the neighborhood.
After the Hardie family enlarged the property and sold it in 1924, ownership transferred once more before the home's final resident, Dr. Ida Finkelstein Fattel, sold it to the city of New Orleans for $215,000 in 1990. Due to its architectural significance, the New Orleans Historic Districts/Landmarks Commission designated the home a historic landmark under the name of Hardie-Fattel House in 1986.
The home opened as the Broad Branch of the New Orleans Public Library in November 1993.
Rosa Keller Dedication
The branch was named in honour of civil rights advocate and New Orleans Public Library pioneer, Rosa Freeman Keller in October 1999.
Rosa Freeman Keller was born in New Orleans in 1911. A white heiress to a Coca-Cola bottling fortune, Keller could easily have chosen to live out her days quietly and comfortably in her Uptown home, with little social reflection. Instead, she used her finances and influence to launch a lifelong fight for racial equality in the city of New Orleans. She became the first woman to serve on a citywide board in New Orleans as a member of the board of the New Orleans Public Library, and used that position to push for the integration of the library system.
Keller received numerous honors for her work on racial issues in New Orleans, including the Times-Picayune Loving Cup Award, which honors New Orleans residents who have worked unselfishly for the community without expectation of public acclaim or material reward. She also received an honorary alumnus degree from Newcomb College and an honorary doctorate from Dillard University. She died on April 15, 1998, in New Orleans. The Keller Family Foundation, established in 1949, continues to provide monies to sustain and improve the New Orleans community. The Rosa F. Keller Library & Community Center at 4300 S. Broad was named for her.
Construction after Katrina
Topographically one of the lowest points in New Orleans, Broadmoor suffered extensive damage due to Hurricane Katrina. In 2006, the neighborhood was deemed a drainage point in the city's reconstruction plan under the Bring New Orleans Back Commission that was led by the former mayor Ray Nagin. The proposal was met with strong opposition as residents rallied to save their neighborhood from disinvestment and destruction. The Keller Library became an important symbol of Broadmoor and a natural locus for redevelopment efforts with the Broadmoor Improvement Association, founded in 1930, touting the notion of an education corridor as central to its neighborhood vision.
This corridor consists of the expanded Keller Library and Community Center, the Andrew H. Wilson Charter School and the Broadmoor Arts and Wellness Center. The result of a lengthy process of planning, fundraising, and review was the total rehabilitation of the historic home with the construction of an entirely new wing, designed by renowned New Orleans architecture firm Eskew+Dumez+Ripple. Gibbs Construction served as the construction company. The new construction had a cost of $6.8 million, and the area was to be . While the house was to be renovated and serve specifically as a community center, the 1993 building was to be demolished. A technology center with 28 computers and the Green Dot Cafe was to be placed in the new library building replacing the previous one. Both the house and the new library building were to be connected by a corridor.