Librarian's Rant

I thought Dennis Hastert's comments (see the Top 10 Quotes post below) were idiotic. But this takes the frigging cake:

"And so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway, so this -- this [she chuckles slightly] is working very well for them."

-- Barbara Bush, quoted by on American Public Radio's Marketplace program, on New Orleans residents evacuated and re-located to the Astrodome in Houston.

From http://politicalwire.com/archives/2005/09/05/quote_of_the_day.html

Thanks to Chris Z. on LU.

For Louisiana libraries, the LA Library Assn has a site with info on donating to their rebuilding efforts: http://www.llaonline.org/

For a broader scope, but still focused on libraries, the Texas Library Association has gone the extra mile: http://txla.org/temp/DisasterRelief.html From the site:

The Texas library community is rallying to rebuild hope and the future for victims of Hurricane Katrina. TLA applauds the efforts of local librarians in quickly responding to the incredible challenges in many communities.

The Texas Library Association's Disaster Relief Fund has been expanded to collect donations for libraries in the Gulf Coast area as well as for libraries providing support for the evacuees. One hundred percent of your donation will be sent to the state library agency or library association in the state of your choice. TLA is also developing a plan to accept book donations for shipment to the affected states at an appropriate time.

UPDATE: The Mississippi Library Association also has an address for library donations, here: http://www.misslib.org/index.php, as well as a hurricane damage assessment of MS libraries which is very interesting. Sharman Smith, the State Librarian of Mississippi, used to be our State Librarian here in Iowa. She's a remarkable woman and a force of nature herself, so I have great hopes that Mississippi libraries will be up and running and better than ever in record time.

Here's the info:

Friends of Mississippi Libraries, working with the Library Commission and the Mississippi Library Association, has established a fund for donations to rebuild those Mississippi libraries severely damaged or destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. Tax-deductible donations can be made by sending contributions to:

Rebuild Mississippi Libraries Fund
c/o AmSouth Bank
210 E. Capitol Street
Jackson, MS 39201

I've not yet seen anything on the Alabama Library Association site. One hopes that's because they're taken care of...

Best of luck to all of our library colleagues in affected areas. And thanks to those taking on the burden of serving hurricane refugees throughout the country.