The new South Walton Coastal Branch Library is now open in our new location on Hwy 331 South in the South Walton Government and Education Center (south of the bridge and new high school). The new library is 12,572 square feet which means more space for more books. The Friends encourage everyone to “Buy a Book”. Book donations are $25.00. A plate will be put inside the cover of the book with the name of the donor or person being honored listed on it.

In addition to books, the Friends raise funds to support the library and raise awareness of library assets and services. Various events each year include the annual “Valentine Tour of Homes” and two used book sales (see the events page for updates on these events).

Annual fund drives and membership drives are an important part of our fundraising efforts, along with ongoing Honor and Memorial contribution programs. Friends membership is $5 per year and includes a quarterly newsletter.

For more information about our fundraising efforts, to volunteer, or for more information on how you can contribute, contact: Johnnie Riley-White 850.267.2044 or Cindy McClary 850.231.6075

The Friends of the Coastal Branch Library is a not for profit corporation. Contributions are tax deductible to the extent allowed by law.

A Special Gift

Folks enjoying the quiet of the new Coastal Branch Library have an equally quiet donor to thank for much of it.

Santa Rosa Beach resident Laura Dugas is the polite and unassuming spirit behind the Dugas Family Foundation, which gave $265,000 to the Friends of the Coastal Branch Library. The donation, which was made to the Friends during their 2000 fundraising campaign, was the single largest contribution to the library.

The Friends recently unveiled a plaque recognizing the foundation's contribution. The foundation donated $250,000 toward the west wing and $15,000 toward the reading garden, both have been named in honor of the family's donation.

An avid reader who encourages her own family to read, Dugas said when the Friends approached the foundation for a donation it was easy to say yes.

"I was in the old library a few times and I definitely saw the need," she said with a gentle laugh.

The old library had been housed in a strip-mall along U.S. 98. The new library, located at the Government Education Center off State Road 331, has 12,500 square feet which is significantly bigger than the old one.

"They've done a beautiful job," Dugas said.

For Dugas, the donation to the library was one more step in building a better community. Besides the library, the foundation has made contributions to the Children's Advocacy Center in Niceville and the Sacred Heart Hospital on the Emerald Coast, which is under-construction.

She felt the addition of a library and the hospital reflected not only the area's growth but South Walton's shift toward a more permanent community. Her own family moved to South Walton in 1989 after many years of enjoying the beaches on vacation.

"When we used to come here in the sixties and seventies and bring my children on summer vacation, it was a little fishing village, and it's changed so much since then," she said.

Dugas said the funding of projects is partially based on the location of her sons, two of whom live in the area.

"I like to include them in our decisions," she said, and added that the foundation also funds projects in Texas, where the third son resides.

The foundation was started by her father, the founder of the Dollar General corporation.

"When my mother died in 1988, a foundation in her name was funded... and I chaired that in Kentucky. And we kept money in that area, where my mother grew up and we grew up. And then, as time went on and we did our estate planning, we funded a Dugas foundation, mainly with Dollar General stock," Dugas said.

Today, the retired Dugas keeps busy cooking, doing needlepoint and working as a board member of the Sacred Heart Hospital on the Emerald Coast when the foundation is not demanding her time. She wouldn't want to have it any other way, she said.

"I've been blessed, believe me I know that. I say a prayer every day, but I've been blessed most of my life," Dugas said.