 Michigan woman spearheads effort to get temporary
library set up for hurricane evacuees in Baton Rouge.
By George Morris
Baton Rouge Advocate, November 20, 2005
When television cameras showed the levee breaks and
subsequent flooding that ravaged much of the Greater New
Orleans area, people across the country responded to
provide for evacuee's obvious needs. In Ann Arbor, MI,
Ann Curtis saw a need that most overlooked - a library.
Because she did, those who have relocated to FEMA's
Renaissance Village are about to have one.
The Shelter Library, which ran for almost three weeks
near the Baton Rouge River Center when its convention
center became an emergency shelter, has been moved to
Renaissance Village. It awaits Cox Communication's
installation of Internet service to get up and running.
"They're moving heaven and Earth to get this open," said
Curtis, who works for ProQuest, a publisher that
specializes in library services. Mary Stein, assistant
director of administrative services for the East Baton
Rouge Parish Library System, said the Shelter Library
will open Dec. 1. The EBR Library will be in charge of
its day-to-day operation.
"The residents of Renaissance Village are anxiously
awaiting the opening of the center," Stein said.
"They're knocking on the door asking if we're ready."
That this library exists at all is because of Curtis'
inspiration. She proposed it on Sept. 1, as news
coverage of the devastation in New Orleans was at its
peak. She said ProQuest executives wanted the company to
do something besides donate money. "I compare her to a
little terrier," said Beth Dempsey, spokesperson for
ProQuest. "Really, the day the hurricane news hit, I
think every corporation was out there figuring out how
they were going to help. Ann came up with this idea that
she wanted to get down there and start opening libraries
again.
"Her instincts were dead on. These evacuees needed
access to the Internet. They needed professional
searchers to help them. They needed to get so many
resources that could be streamlined by getting them on
to the Internet. Plus, we knew that schools weren't
going to open for a long time, and kids were going to
need homework help. Those are two of the primary roles
of a public library."
Curtis had experience with this: at trade shows, she
set up temporary libraries to showcase ProQuest's new
databases. ProQuest rented a trailer, and Curtis got IBM
to donate computers. What she didn't immediately know
was where to set up the library. Houston was a
consideration, but ProQuest settled on the Baton Rouge
River Center, the hub of local evacuee shelter activity.
Although East Baton Rouge Parish Library System has its
River Center Branch a block from the arena, shelter
organizers though its resources might be overwhelmed,
said Beth Bingham, a former local librarian now a
library consultant. The Shelter Library provided more
computers and a larger menu of products for K-12
homework assistance, Bingham said.
"It was more of a supplemental role than a
replacement role," she said. "We are not in
competition."
The Argosy Casino provided the location, power, and
Internet access for the Shelter Library across
Government Street from the River Center. All that was
needed was staffing. LSU's School of Library and
Information Science and the Cajun Clickers Computer Club
took care of that. For the library students, it became
an opportunity to put what they learned in class to use.
"Many of our students had been volunteering in
different places," said Beth Paskoff, dean of the
library school, "but this was another service learning
focus that we could supply."
The library was open for eight hours each day, and
Bingham was on-site coordinator. Cajun Clickers
volunteers worked from 11a.m. to 3p.m., and library
students picked up for the next four hours. Bingham said
there were usually at least two volunteers staffing the
library.
In a little under three weeks, 500 evacuees made use
of the library, as did some FEMA and Army Corps of
Engineers workers. Some of the evacuees were computer
savvy; some had never seen a computer. Some were
searching for missing relatives. Some needed homework
help. The library gave away children's books donated by
ProQuest employees. Many evacuees needed assistance with
filling out all manner of government paperwork, and
volunteers set up e-mail accounts for those without one.
"As you go through the FEMA paperwork, one of the
very last things you have to put in is your e-mail
address," Paskoff said. "But if you don't have an e-mail
address and you leave that blank, you lose the whole
record that you've just spent an hour creating. We were
able to help work people through this."
Although Renaissance Village residents still need to
correspond with FEMA, Stein anticipates that the Shelter
Library's mission will adjust to knew needs. Adults can
use the Internet to search for jobs and communicate with
insurance companies, and she expects it to be a big help
for school children.
The Shelter Library will not circulate books, but
will provide Internet access and educational databases
provided by ProQuest for residents. The Baker Branch
Library is the closest full-service library to
Renaissance Village. "The kids will need access to work
on their homework," Stein said. "We really could see
that we could meeting information needs onsite. I feel
that with the kids in the park, their moms aren't going
to necessarily let them trot on the bus and go off for a
couple of hours, and it might not be possible for the
whole family to make a little jaunt down the street."
Stein said the reference software includes
http://www.facts.com, the subscription- based online
site run by Facts on File New Service and online
encyclopedias. The library also will have some print
reference material.
The databases, unlike other popular search engines
like Google, provide reliable information that has been
verified. They also include information on health,
nutrition, auto repair, and other helpful topics, Stein
said.
The Shelter Library will be open 3-7pm Monday through
Thursdays, 3-6pm Fridays, noon-6pm Saturdays, and 2-6pm
Sundays. The EBR Library System will staff the Shelter
Library, Stein said.
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