RECONNECTING COMMUNITIES

Partnerships in the Gulf Coast Reopen Hurricane-Damaged Libraries

The Gulf Coast hurricanes in the summer of 2005 damaged or destroyed more than 150 public libraries. About 50 are still closed, which means that dozens of small communities in Louisiana and Mississippi are working toward recovery without the benefit of a library—a center of community life where people can get advice, communicate with friends and family, and find crucial information about jobs, community resources, and federal emergency relief. The Internet is often the best and sometimes the only place to access this information, and without a library, people have no place to get online for free.

Libraries are more than just information clearinghouses. “Public libraries are the most public of public institutions,” said Sharman Bridges Smith, executive director of the Mississippi Library Commission. “In the middle of chaos, they offer calm sanctuary and a sense of place.” The critical role libraries play became even more apparent after the hurricanes, when local and evacuated residents used those libraries that were still standing as safe shelters during a period when other social and civil services were unable to function.

In July, we joined the Bush-Clinton Katrina Fund and the Institute for Museum and Library Sciences to announce more than $18 million in grants to help rebuild Gulf Coast libraries. We’re working with the Southeastern Library Network, a nonprofit organization that supports almost 3,000 libraries in the Southeast United States and the Caribbean, to implement the grants. The network will provide temporary facilities—bookmobiles and techmobiles—for communities whose libraries were destroyed and will also help these communities plan for the rebuilding process.

Allan Golston, president of our United States Program, announced the grant at the start of the 2006 American Library Association conference, held in New Orleans. The first major conference convened there since the 2005 hurricanes, it symbolized the region’s resilience in the face of unimaginable trials. By bringing people together and empowering them with knowledge, libraries contribute greatly to that resilience.