Aaron the Librarian

Stopped off at Leslie Burger’s Blogger Bash and Celebration for Gulf Coast Library Heroes (the PL employees who just kept coming to work to hlep the public — even though they may have been/still are in the same or worse straits as the general public.

The message representatives of these libraries and their staffs wanted to emphasize is they are short of funding and other fiscal resources. While they love that people form all over feel compassionate toward them and want to send whatever is available, *they don’t currently need any used books* (mainly because the libraries are short on storage space).

Financial support to restore services in more locations (”more” in the sense of ‘more than currently available’ rather than ‘more than where they used to supply services’). Sadly, the revenue streams of the local governments were cut as badly as the lives and livelihood of local residents.

Library vendors have stepped up and are providing access to electronic information, but the physical and face to face services used by the general public to satisfy federal agencies and other aid associations still needs funding.

The MSM is catching on to the situation and more stories are being written and aggregated, but direct contributions are also possible. Websites mentioned by Gulf Coast Libraries staffers present, for helping Gulf Coast Libraries, have beeen set up (feel free to add more links in the comments - I know I’ve missed a few of the libraries mentioned):

Louisiana:
New Orleans Public Library — Katrina Foundation donations page

Mississippi:
Harrison County Public Library – Dewey Donation system
Hancock County Public Library — Library Foundation of Hancock County Rebuild the Dream