After Katrina, Dismay and Recovery

摘要

The New Orleans Public Library (NOPL) is coming back from Hurricane Katrina-thanks to the State Library of Louisiana, NOPL in mid-September set up a temporary web site (nutrias.org)-but, like many libraries in the Gulf region, it both sustained significant damage and retained hope for renewal. "The NOPL system has taken a blow (about half of our branches are probably underwater), but the Main Library [having] come through relatively unscathed is good fortune beyond our wildest dreams," wrote library archivists Wayne Everard and Irene Wainright, noting the valuable material preserved. Library director Bill Johnson, speaking to LJ from Orlando, FL, on September 21, said that five of 12 branches had been flooded so badly 'that even the sheetrock would have to be replaced, along with equipment and materials damaged by water and mold. Another four branches experienced moderate damage, while three were mostly unharmed. While Johnson had talked to some city officials, there was no firm plan yet to restore service. He said that "we might open the main on a limited basis." A web site set up for library staffers allowed Johnson, library board chair TaniaTetlow, and others to contact colleagues. Heads of departments began communicating virtually-the library's public relations person was in the Chicago area-and seven staffers within driving distance of New Orleans began making forays into the city. Johnson himself planned to return to the city at the end of September.