Responding to Disaster

Lessons from the shelter library, Baton Rouge, LA

By Beth Dempsey -- Library Journal, 12/15/2005

When Hurricane Katrina hit in late August and Americans scrambled to help, a group of librarians and vendors teamed up to bring library services to evacuees. Ultimately, they created the IBM/ProQuest Internet & Homework Library, which is now settled in Renaissance Village, an evacuee housing area in Baton Rouge. The library serves hundreds of Renaissance Village residents, providing Internet access, homework help, recreational reading, professional library services, and, perhaps most important, an oasis of calm and comfort in a grim, sterile environment.

The library has been so successful that it is being hailed as a model for how libraries can respond in emergency situations, extending the reach of the library mission.

Housed in a portable building, the library, dubbed “shelter library” by its creators, measures just short of 800 square feet. Despite its stark architecture, everything about the building says, “Welcome.”

Outside, holiday lights twinkle along the rooftop and warm the hard edges of the structure. Park benches, purchased from a local hardware store, offer seating on the shady side (it's Baton Rouge, after all, and shade is a sought-after commodity). A banner strung above the door proclaims “IBM/ProQuest Internet & Homework Library.”

Just inside the door a volunteer librarian at a desk greets patrons and directs them to resources. The walls are decorated with the American Library Association “Read” posters and some framed library-appropriate artwork that a volunteer scavenged. The floor is carpeted, and while the fluorescent ceiling lights aren't glamorous, they're ample for all types of work. Bulletin boards and whiteboards keep patrons apprised of contact information for relief agencies, appropriate forms, news, and community information, such as bus stop locations.

The library is stocked to serve the specific needs of its patrons, with a heavy emphasis on the Internet. From ten computer workstations, courtesy of IBM, users search for relief, read email from loved ones, and track news from home. To save room, the computers are set up classroom style on tables donated by GES Services, the Las Vegas–based exhibitions company. They're equipped with an Internet browser and a variety of databases donated by ProQuest to serve homework needs. The company also donated newspaper databases, which allow evacuees to keep up-to-date with their hometown news. The tables are utilitarian but cheery, skirted trade show fashion in bright blue. There's a shelf of reference works and three shelves of fiction for children and adults. Printing is done at a single station, which is fitted with a color printer—a touch of luxury that's a hit with kids.

All the print material comes from book drives held by the library's library and corporate partners. Rather than do a national call, the library gets its books only from its partners. The book are sorted into categories before shipping so volunteers can quickly shelve them as they arrive. Additionally, the flow of books is easier to manage, with only a couple of phone calls needed to slow down or speed up the pace of deliveries. Reference sources are used within the library, but recreational reading materials are handled loosely. To avoid setting up a circulating system, these materials are simply given to patrons, with the advice to enjoy them and return them if they can.

At the back of the building is a children's area, with three Young Explorer Workstations. Donated by IBM, the workstations are colorful, space-conscious, hard plastic units that hold a child-friendly computer and a bench that seats two. “They're kid magnets,” says Ann Curtis, ProQuest's trade show manager and the original champion for the shelter library. “The kids flock to them and putter around without any direction, perfectly happy.” With kids occupied, parents and librarians can work together without distraction.

ProQuest conceived the idea of a shelter library as thousands of New Orleans residents were being evacuated to shelters in Texas. “We wanted the ProQuest response to be meaningful to libraries—something tangible, immediately relevant, and aligned with our core values,” says Lynda James-Gilboe, ProQuest's VP of marketing. “We tapped Ann to lead the project, she tapped other ProQuest associates, vendors, and librarian colleagues, and the idea became a reality. I've never seen an advocacy project conducted with more heart.”

Initially, the library was planned for an area within the Houston Astrodome, but it quickly became clear that it would be temporary housing at best. Curtis's first steps had been in establishing contact with state library associations, which were hubs of information about impacted areas. Through that network of information, she was able to identify sites where service needs were great and would be ongoing. She turned her attention to Baton Rouge, where the evacuee population had exploded.

Forging partnerships was critical to setting up a fully equipped library quickly. Curtis found an enthusiastic partner in Beth Bingham, a librarian who is now a Baton Rouge–based consultant. Bingham provided library expertise and connections into the Baton Rouge library community, which responded with dozens of volunteers, including—via Dean Beth Paskoff—library students from Louisiana State University (LSU).

Curtis then approached ProQuest vendors for goods and services to stock the library. IBM was the first on board, donating computers and workstations. Tom Trotter, IBM corporate community relations, fielded hundreds of requests for help but recognized the library as a creative means of disaster relief. “For me, this project was one of the most personally satisfying in the Katrina recovery effort,” says Trotter. “It involved all of IBM's strengths: rapid deployment of technology for a very specific solution, as well as the involvement of our business partners and IBM volunteers to help evacuees in the long process of getting back to normal.”

Within a month of Katrina's Gulf Coast strike, the library was open for business, serving 227 patrons in its first week. A local computer club (the Cajun Clickers) and library students worked with patrons to file FEMA forms, unemployment claims, search for missing people, and examine—virtually— the devastation in the neighborhoods they left behind. The library also served workers in the area, providing a reliable, comfortable area for FEMA and Corps of Engineers staff to access their email and write and file reports.

Getting to opening day was a feat of sheer determination, as barrier after barrier had to be hurdled. The will to serve was settled from the beginning, but finding a spot from which to serve was tough going. Once the Astrodome site was eliminated, the library needed a structure, which prompted the idea of the portable classroom-style building. It is rented monthly (about $300, covered by ProQuest) but needed to be situated carefully. Curtis and Bingham scoured the area for a spot within a quick walk of its patrons and where power and Internet connections were easy to obtain. Originally, it found a home on the lawn of the Argosy Casino, smack dab between an evacuee shelter and a FEMA office. The casino donated not only space but power and T1 lines—and then shelter when Hurricane Rita hit and Curtis, Bingham, and their band of volunteers needed a place to ride out the storm. Curtis advises that the key to responding effectively to a disaster is to not let any obstacles stop you. “You have to work through the discouragement. I learned to just keep looking for the people who said, 'Why couldn't we do that?' and go right past the people who said, 'We can't.'”

In an unpredictable situation, however, determination needs to be coupled with an ability to respond quickly to change. The library was open just a few weeks when the evacuee population shifted again and families were moved to trailer villages that could provide longer-term solutions to housing needs. The portable library was, of course, designed to move as well—but Curtis and Bingham scrambled to find another spot with the necessary convenience, utilities, and T1 lines. They ultimately moved the library to its current location in Renaissance Village, after negotiating directly with the village management on all operational necessities.

With its shift in location came a shift in perspective. At the shelter location, the focus was on quick setup and quick service for emergencies. With a more stable population in Renaissance Village, the environment remains relaxed, but the focus now is on becoming a part of the community. Library volunteers attend community meetings and even held an open house at the library, welcoming patrons with punch and cookies.

Kids use the library for homework and as a comfortable, inviting place to spend their off-school hours. Their parents track relief claims online and plot strategies for a new life. Curtis says the librarians offer a willing ear to evacuees' stories. “Our volunteer librarians are a respite for people who stand in line all day and deal with grumpy people. There's a lot of listening that goes on here. We serve [those] who are separated from their families, and their life stories are so compelling. No one else seems to have time to listen to them, but we do. We're not just librarians, we're social workers here…we soothe and comfort.”

Such in-depth interaction has been a boon to the grad students who have come to volunteer from LSU. The students get intense, hands-on training, developing people skills that will be critical assets once they graduate.

The experience has been life-changing for more than the students. “The goal of helping people who really need help…making a difference in someone's life is compelling fuel for everyone's engines,” says Curtis. Once she's no longer needed at the library, Curtis intends to volunteer for Habitat for Humanity so she can “stay in the trenches.”

For Bingham, the experience has been a reminder of the difference a library can make to someone in need and the exhilaration that comes from camaraderie. “With the assistance of our volunteers, we are a full-service facility,” she says. “I wish everyone could see the excitement in the children when they open the door to a pleasing, cool environment and friendly faces to help them. This is library service at its best.”