For those of us living in North America, the destruction caused by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita has shown us both the humbling power of natural forces and the fragility of man-made structures. The devastation to the Gulf Coast of the United States includes hundreds of destroyed or damaged schools and colleges, 372,000 displaced K-12 students, and 73,000 displaced college students, in addition to scores of school, public, and academic libraries that have been destroyed or damaged and their collections ruined. While libraries are rightly not a first priority in the reconstruction of public institutions and housing, it is important that libraries of all types are given a high priority by government officials and that they are rebuilt (and restocked with better collections) as soon as possible.
As a result of television coverage and the Internet, the public response to the disaster has been heartfelt, immediate, and generous and has resulted in donations to relief agencies on an unprecedented scale. The short-term response of the library community has been a particularly fine example of swift generosity. Because it takes years to build collections and infrastructure, it is clear that the Gulf Coast's schools and libraries will need our help not only in the short term but also for years to come. There are a variety of ways in which we can do so:
* The American Library Association (ALA) has created a comprehensive Libraries and Katrina web site at www.ala.org/ala/cro/katrina/katrina.htm. At that site is information about the Hurricane Katrina Library Relief Fund to raise money to help rebuild libraries in the Gulf region. A secure donation site has been set up at https://secure.ga3.org/03/alakatrina.
* At the Libraries and Katrina site, ALA has also published a linked list of associations that have established disaster relief funds to aid libraries affected by Hurricane Katrina. For this list, go to www.ala.org/ala/cro/katrina/katrinafinancialdonation.htm.
* The ALA has established an Adopt a Library program that will provide an opportunity for U.S. libraries of all types to adopt a library in the Gulf Coast. The ALA will collect information from libraries that need assistance and will connect those libraries with others that can provide relief. Contributing libraries are asked to lend support in the way of books, computers, fundraising efforts, and volunteers. Information and registration forms are available at www.ala.org/katrina/adopt.
* The Book Relief project, cosponsored by the Library of Congress and the nonprofit First Book organization (whose mission is to give new books to children in need), is gathering 5 million books to give to evacuees, libraries, and schools affected by the hurricanes. Information can be found at www.bookrelief.org/.
* The Canadian Library Association is accepting donations to a Hurricane Katrina Library Relief Fund at www.cla.ca/katrina_relief/index.htm. Funds will be dispersed through the ALA relief effort.
In addition, several excellent reading and web site lists have been published. Although their primary purpose is to help the children and teenagers displaced by Katrina and Rita to cope, these lists are useful for all teachers and students:
* The Young Adult Library Services Association has developed a reading list of fiction and nonfiction books and web sites about overcoming disaster and stories of survival for teens at www.ah.org/ala/pressreleases2005/september2005/YALSAdisastcrbooklist.htm.
* The Association for Library Services to Children has created a fiction and nonfiction reading list to help children deal with the Hurricane Katrina disaster at www.ala.org/ala/alsc/alscresources/dealingwithtrag/DealingHurricane Katrina.htm.
* Kids Click! features an excellent Hurricane Katrina web page at www.kidsclick .org/katrina.html.
Esther Rosenfeld
Coeditor
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