Vendors’ Powerful Response to Katrina
-- Library Journal, 9/19/2005
Vendors serving the library and education market have joined relief efforts for Katrina victims:
Along with a large donation on money and materials, ProQuest is helping establish a new library entirely for evacuees. Barbara Eschner, ProQuest’s director of creative services, told LJ that ProQuest teamed with East Baton Rouge Parish Library (EBRPL)—“where they’re dealing with an explosion in population from evacuees”—and the Capital Area Red Cross to create a temporary branch in a portable building located where the evacuees can get to it easily. IBM has joined in the effort and is providing computers for adults and Young Explorer Work Stations for children. “ProQuest is loading the computers with access to its databases and running a book drive at its offices to supplement the collection that EBRPL has developed for the library,” said Eschner. ProQuest’s trade show manager, Ann Curtis, is in Baton Rouge, along with tech support and setup people, to get the library up and running. As there are no hotel rooms there, Beth Bingham, a retired librarian, opened her home to anyone coming in to work on the library effort.
EBSCO made a substantial contribution to the American Red Cross in the first days following the aftermath of the storm. Additionally, EBSCO’s Rebecca Walden told LJ the company is collecting donations from its employees worldwide and matching the contributions 2–1. EBSCO also made gifts to the Louisiana Library Association Disaster Relief Fund and Rebuild Mississippi Libraries Fund, both of which will assist school, public, and academic libraries in restoration efforts.
Additionally, EBSCO is providing free access to Biomedical Reference Collection™: Comprehensive Edition and DynaMed for all hospitals and academics in Louisiana from September 2005 through March 31, 2006. EBSCO also donated 30 computers to the Louisiana State Library to help in providing facilities for Louisiana residents to file hurricane damage claims.
EBSCO is in contact with publishers worldwide in an effort to make subscription provisions for customers located in the affected areas. After the storm, the U.S. Postal Service wasn’t accepting any material destined for specific ZIP codes. “The majority of publishers we have spoken with have agreed to hold shipments and accommodate fulfillment of missing issues,” said Walden. “Some publishers have indicated a preference to extend subscriptions. We will work with affected libraries to obtain missing subscriptions per their preferences. Those libraries that are missing titles may also consult the EBSCO Missing Copy Bank, which provides access to a one- to two-year back file of serials titles. For more information, Louisiana-based institutions should contact jmcclendon@ebsco.com; organizations in Mississippi and Alabama should contact rsherer@ebsco.com.
Polaris Library Systems followed the recommendation of the Texas Library Association and is sending books for their disaster relief book drive, described at www.txla.org/temp/disasterrelief.html. Polaris COO Anita Wagner told LJ, “We are working with several local businesses and libraries to gather books for this cause. In addition, we are awaiting the details of the fundraiser that the American Library Association will be announcing. We have been in touch with our Polaris and GALAXY customers in the areas affected by Katrina to offer technical support in getting them back online.”
H.W. Wilson’s Eileen Sutter told LJ that it “will work with any library that suffered a major loss because of Hurricane Katrina.” The company is asking libraries to contact its customer service department if they “need to replace H.W. Wilson titles when rebuilding their collections.”
Other companies making similar donations are asked to contact MRogers@reedbusiness.com for inclusion in future coverage.
