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Two years after Katrina, New Orleans still working to rebuild ruined branches
http://www.2theadvocate.com/entertainment/books/9356536.html
By GREG LANGLEY
Books editor
Published: Aug 26, 2007
Page 1 of 2 SINGLE PAGE VIEW
Ron Biava doesn’t like to say that the New Orleans Public Library had eight branches destroyed by Hurricane Katrina.
“I like to say ‘ruined.’ It’s not as if the buildings were flattened … but they were so heavily damaged,” said Biava, executive director of the New Orleans Public Library Foundation. If “ruined” means flooded with 10, 12 or even 14 feet of water, then that’s what happened to eight of the system’s 13 branches. Once the water was pumped out of New Orleans, library officials found soggy books, ruined computers, broken furniture, buckled walls, buildings off their foundations, shattered windows, soggy carpets, fallen ceilings, unworkable plumbing and wiring, mud on everything. And mold. The black, stinky fungus bloomed on walls, floors, books, desks, chairs, every surface.
If tears could have washed away the awful mess, it would have been cleaned up the first day. Officials didn’t have much time to cry over what was lost, however. They knew that as soon as New Orleans dried out and people were allowed to return, they’d want library services. They’d need to have access to reference materials to answer a million questions about cleaning up mold, about finding a job, about applying for aid and what programs were available and from whom. They’d want to use public computers to send e-mails, to try to get a FEMA trailer or contact their insurance company. They’d want to search online for missing friends and relatives. The library had to serve patrons with its remaining branches.
Now, as the two-year anniversary of the storm approaches, only one of the ruined libraries has been renovated — the Alvar Street Branch in Bywater — and one other is operating out of temporary quarters in a store front — the Mid-City Branch on North Carrollton Avenue. The Algiers Regional Branch at 3014 Holiday Drive and the Smith Branch at 6301 Canal Blvd. in Lakeview are being served by bookmobiles.
The New Orleans East Branch has been gutted and locked up. The other four damaged libraries are still closed, their dark windows asking an unspoken question: What should be done about New Orleans’ lost libraries?
“It’s an open question if any of them should be rebuilt,” Biava said.
“It varies from case to case.”
Some of the libraries took on high levels of floodwater, but some, like the Algiers Regional Branch, weren’t flooded in the traditional sense. “There was so much roof damage,” Biava said of the Algiers facility, “it was water from that damage. There was wind and water followed by mold.” By contrast, the Martin Luther King Branch Library in the 9th Ward had as much as 14 feet of water in it, Biava said.
Regardless of how the damaged occurred, the result was the same: the libraries were rendered unusable. Damage estimates were staggering.
“The city’s initial estimate was $21 million in damages to those eight libraries,” Biava said. That’s not to say the libraries can be restored for that amount.
“We are going to do a master plan for the library system, because we need to come up with a better estimate of what it would cost to rebuild,” Biava said.
Rebuild is the idea, he said. “Many of them (the destroyed libraries) were too small to begin with and they were old,” he said.
“The Library Board intends to rebuild better than before.”
What is better? That will be answered in the master plan when all the variables — the population the libraries will serve and what revenues might be expected to cover operating costs — are considered. The master plan is scheduled to be published in October, Biava said.
“How big? How big would little be? How many meeting rooms? How many branches?” Biava mused. “As we do our master plan, we’re going to have to figure out that out. We’re going to have to design with an eye to the future.
“There is so much uncertianty. Our master plan will have to provide us with more flexibility than in many cities where they have a more stable population.”
The uncertainty about New Orleans’ eventual population size affects the plan’s goals,” Biava said.
“We have to plan for revenues our property tax base will provide. We have to consider what we can afford to operate.”
It’s a balancing act, Biava said. “How to provide library services that are better than before with revenues that are going to be lean for a while.”
Paying for reconstruction may require some effort, but Biava is confident the funds can be found. “We know that there is some FEMA money. My estimate is that against that $21 million in damages, FEMA will provide $7 million,” Biava said, and added that at least $1 million in additional funds are expected to be provided by the Louisiana Recovery Authority.
“Right now there is potential for funding from the federal government,” he said. “We are getting some outside philanthropical funding from out of state.”
All that won’t be enough. “Right now we’re not sure where the money will come from,” Biava said. He is undaunted. “I’ll always believe that, in the end, I will raise enough money.”
Things are still evolving in New Orleans, but “recovering” is a label that can be accurately applied to the city. Biava said the progress is not uniform, and the library master plan will take that into consideration.
“Some neighborhoods are struggling to recover and their library might be phased in,” he said.
Rica Trigs is community relations officer for the New Orleans Public Library and also serves as the library administration’s liaison to the New Orleans Library Board. That board comprises nine members, Trigs said, all appointed by the mayor. The members serve staggered terms of nine years each, Trigs said, and they form a “governing board” which receives an annual budget proposal generated by the library administration.
Right now, the libraries that are still closed are to be replaced by temporary libraries, including metal buildings at the Gentilly Branch at St. Roch and Robert E. Lee, and Rosa Keller Branch at 4300 S. Broad St.
Two temporary libraries, Biava said, will be in schools —the Einstein Charter School Branch at 5100 Cannes St. in New Orleans East and the Martin Luther King Branch at 1611 Caffin Ave.
The funds for the temporary sites are being provided by the Gulf Coast Public Library Project, Biava said, which is an initiative of the Gates Foundation, the philanthropic agency founded by Microsoft mogul Bill Gates and his wife Melinda.
According to the project’s Web site, “The Southeastern Library Network (SOLINET), a regional library network that serves the southeastern United States and the Caribbean, will administer the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation grant and work in partnership with the state library agencies of Louisiana and Mississippi to assist libraries damaged by the hurricanes. Libraries face a significant recovery process. In Louisiana, 107 public libraries were initially reported destroyed or damaged with 40 still closed; in Mississippi, 34 public libraries were indefinitely or temporarily closed following the hurricanes with eight remaining closed. SOLINET and state library agencies estimate that approximately 500 public computers were lost in Louisiana and Mississippi.”
The Gates Foundation will give $12.2 million in grants to help libraries establish up to 22 temporary facilities in Mississippi and Louisiana so community members can access books and computer and Internet services, provide support for the planning of destroyed or damaged libraries, and will eventually pay for new computers in rebuilt public libraries, the project’s Web site says. Also, the Bush-Clinton Katrina Fund will make $5 million available to support new reconstruction and recovery of Gulf Coast public libraries. The Institute for Museum and Library Services, a federal grant making agency that provides leadership and support to the nation’s museums and libraries, will contribute $500,000 to help staff the temporary facilities.
“They provide the temporary building, a small collection and two thirds of the cost of the staff for three years,” Biava said. “It comes to $2.4 million in goods and services for Orleans Parish.”
It’s clear that the New Orleans Public Library has made enormous progress in recovering from the damage from hurricanes Katrina and Rita. It’s equally obvious that the system has a long way to go to get back to providing full service to its patrons. Only one of the eight damaged libraries has been fully renovated. Other recovery solutions are temporary and will have to be replaced or closed when the grants that sustain them run out.
“One of the wonderful things about a library is that it is a place where there are people to help you,” Biava said. Now it’s the libraries themselves that need help.
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