What seems like a long time ago, a call went out for books to be sent to Louisiana so that those who had nothing, could at least get a book and have a few hours of peace. Regina and I sent a couple of cartons of books down there. Today, I received this wonderful email, telling what happened to at least one of the boxes.

Here is the email from one of the volunteers.

Dear Barbara,
I just wanted to send a heartfelt thank-you on behalf of the Pass Christian Public Library in Mississippi for the books that you so generously donated to the main book drive held after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans and the Gulf Coast of Mississippi.

I am sure you are wondering how the books ended up in Pass Christian, MS, when you probably sent them to Texas! Texas was the main collection point and books were initially distributed to the evacuation shelters for immediate needs, but the response from donors was so great that some were stored until other needs were identified.

The main library in Pass Christian, a small Gulf Coast town of approx. 8,000, was devastated by the 30 plus foot tidal surge that destroyed 80% of the town, along with the libraries and other structures of many other small communities along the Gulf coast. After the town picked themselves up, evaluated the immediate needs and started clean-up, a decision was made by the Children’s Librarian, Mrs Sally James (who lost her home and everything in it) that a temporary library was an absolute necessity for the people who were left in town. She made it her personal responsibility to make this happen. The Dupont plant, located close by in Bay St Louis, donated a trailer after hearing her appeal on TV and then a large truck with boxes of all sizes and shapes containing approximately 17,000 books arrived from Texas about three weeks ago. Shortly thereafter volunteer carpenters from various religious and non-religious agencies across the country worked hard to build shelving and I spent 7 days there last week with other volunteers helping to open, sort and shelve the books. We found such a variety of books in the boxes and sorted them into hardcopy fiction, paperback fiction, non-fiction, easyreader hard backs and soft books for children, hard backs and paperbacks for youth, etc. etc. etc. We also found many videos, both adults and children, so they now also have a well stocked video section which is proving very popular. Any books that were not in good shape (yours were new and perfect!!), or books that maybe were good but duplicates or multiples of the same title, were re boxed and another volunteer took them in his truck up to the “old” library where they are being stored in a section that has been cleared and is dry. A lot of those books will be sorted again by library staff at a later date and then the ones that are truly overstock will be sold by the “The Friends of the Library” as a fundraiser. The library needs to raise between $10 - $15,000 dollars in order to hook up to a “T” line to enable them to connect through a satellite system to the main library system (not sure if this is state or national) and also to pay for such things as a main cataloguing and bar coding system. I don’t really know the details of what they need but I know it will be expensive! The Pass Christian Library had previously been partially funded by city and county funds (local tax dollars) as well as private donations and fundraisers. Now that all the businesses in Pass Christian that contributed to the tax base are destroyed, it will be a long time before any funds become available and Sally understands she has to “go it alone” for a while. I found your card in one of the boxes I opened and bought it back to North Carolina with me as I know the library staff (Sally plus two others who are being kept on part-time) are overwhelmed and will not have time for thank-you notes. They still have so much to do to get the books alphabetized, spine labeled, manually catalogued, etc. They will be using the old fashioned “card in the back of the book” system for a while! They have been open to the public ever since they put out the first box of books and it is quickly becoming a meeting place for many. They have the only working public use fax in town and are working hard to get an internet connection up and running. Many families are living in FEMA trailers on their devastated lots and are so thankful to have a place to come to where they can fax the information needed by their insurance companies (although the majority of the claims are being denied for one reason or another!) and to meet with old friends and share stories of their recent experiences.

So – this has turned into a long thank-you but I just wanted you to know that your kind donation was greatly appreciated. To see more about the town itself and in particular the library, please visit www.katrina.passchristian.net. Click on the link that says “John Grisham and Wife” in the left hand column and that will take you to several pages with history and photos of the library/destruction.

If you would like to share this email with others, who may have donated already but feel they could do a little more, please feel free to do so. More books are not needed at this time but some organizations and/or neighborhoods are planning or have already held book sales and are sending the proceeds to the Pass Christian Public Library (the address on the web site is still valid even though it is for the old library. Mail is no longer delivered in town, a temporary post office trailer has been set up in a field about 3 miles north of town and mail boxes for residents and businesses, who still receive mail even though they may not exist!, have been provided outside the trailer). Sally received a call while I was there last week from a university in a northern state to let her know they had held a book sale and raised $1,200. They were calling to confirm where to send the check! She was so excited. However, even a $10 WalMart gift card is received with the same excitement as it helps them purchase much needed everyday supplies (we visited the Walmart in Bay St Louis to buy a stepladder, floor mats for the doors, a dolly to move boxes, etc. for them and we were amazed to see the WalMart functioning after the damage it had sustained. It was down to bare cement floors, resembled a bare bones warehouse, had campers in the parking lot for staff to live in, but it was providing well priced, much needed, essentials for people trying to get themselves back together. I heard nothing but praise for two organizations when I was there – The Salvation Army and WalMart!

So – I apologize for the long email, as you can tell it is easy to become emotionally involved when you actually visit and see these things with your own eyes. It was a heartbreaking experience but one I shall never forget.
Thank you once more for your generosity and now you know where your donation ended up!!

Sincerely
Judi Boscaro
Hillsborough, NC
(I am writing this on my lunch break using my work email in case you are wondering about the email address!).