Assistance to walk-in patrons: Reference librarians will assist you with the use of specialized resources, both print and electronic.
Telephone reference: Call us at (225) 231-3750. (If the line is busy you may wish to contact a Reference Department at one of our branches.)
Email reference: Email us at eref@ebrpl.com.
Text reference: Text us at (225) 361-8476. Standard message rates apply.
Chat reference: Ask us a question via chat by using the "Chat with a Librarian" widget on the right-hand side of your screen. Note that you will automatically end your chat session if you leave this page. (You may also wish to browse through our answers to other patrons' questions using the widget below the picture of the man on the phone.)
For all remote-access inquiries (i.e., telephone, email, text or chat) reference librarians will provide quick, factual answers to your questions. Librarians can check up to five (5) titles on the online public access catalog (OPAC), check the shelves, and hold the titles or send them to another branch for you. We can place holds on circulating items that are not available when you call. Each item will be held for at least seven days once it is put on the (physical) hold shelf at the branch where it will be picked up; if a particular item is not claimed in that time, it will go to the next person on its waiting list. If no one else is on that item's waiting list, it will be returned to the branch where it is housed.
Printouts for patrons are held at the Reference Desk for five days, after which they are recycled. All black-and-white printouts over twenty pages are $0.10 per page.
Some questions require more research than staff is able to provide over the telephone. You may need to visit the library to do in-depth research.
Do you have a question you would like to ask us?
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If, after clicking on "Ask", you still do not see an answer to your question, type it in the search box underneath the word "LibAnswers" and click on "Search"; it will become a new question for staff to respond to.