BATON ROUGE - The library at LSU has been a second home to studying students for decades, but it is far from welcoming. Lawmakers agree it's time for a new chapter for the landmark in the heart of campus.

“Have you been to Middleton Library? It’s an absolute disaster... If you walk in the place, it’s in deplorable shape. There’s no question about it," said Stuart Bishop, a state representative.

Bishop proposed House Bill 2, which was signed into effect by Governor Edwards. The bill allocates $51 million to LSU for the purpose of building a new library. 

“Personally I think it’s almost an embarrassment that being how important a library is to a university that the shape that it’s in and what they have… it’s unacceptable and that is one of the reasons I agreed to start moving money," said Bishop.

Two million of that allotted funding will immediately go into planning. The LSU Board of Supervisors met Thursday to discuss what the future may hold. 

So far, they are looking at moving the library out of the Quad and making it a more digitally-focused space. A separate space with more books could be a possibility. 

"The way things are moving today with electronics, they’re trying to catch up,” said Bishop.

Overall, Bishop says the end goal is to have a completely new and improved library. The timeline on that is still to be determined.