Hurricane Katrina -- Rebuild Mississippi Libraries Fund »

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

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

Hurricane Katrina -- News from Mississippi Libraries »

Public Libraries:
MISSISSIPPI LIBRARY COMMISSION--ASSESSMENT OF DAMAGE TO PUBLIC LIBRARIES updated Thursday, September 15, 2005

If you have any updates you would like posted on this web page please email webmaster@misslib.org.

Hurricane Katrina: Picking Up The Pieces: A Guide to Resources »
MSU Libraries has created a web guide for internet resources on Hurricane Katrina. It includes a number of sites with information for survivors and also has a section on information for libraries.
The address is: http://library.msstate.edu/katrina.

2005 MLA Annual Convention Cancelled due to Hurricane Katrina »
Due to the devastating impact of Hurricane Katrina for many Mississippi libraries, the Executive Board of the Mississippi Library Association has made the difficult decision to cancel our Annual Conference, which had been scheduled for next month in Vicksburg. We sincerely hope to reschedule the Conference for a later date, but cannot begin to think about possible dates while so many of our fellow librarians and staff have lost homes, and possibly their employment.

Much hard work had gone into this Conference and we were looking forward to a delightful visit in Vicksburg. We appreciate the efforts of the Conference Committees and all those who worked to plan programs and events.

Quoting Catherine Nathan, Vice President/President/elect, “The theme I chose for this year's convention was "Libraries Build Community." Once our conference is re-scheduled - at some point in the future - perhaps we should change that to read "Libraries Help Re-Build Community." These words hold so much truth. It will be our responsibility to help each other as we rebuild our libraries, our communities and our lives.

We will be establishing a library disaster relief fund and have already received many offers of assistance from across the country. More information will be available in the coming days and weeks. Unfortunately, there is still too much uncertainty and we are not yet at a point where we can begin to plan the recovery process.

We will let you know if and when our MLA Conference is rescheduled and sincerely hope that you will be able to attend.

We will grieve for our losses, but we must use this opportunity to grow and to work together to rebuild our libraries and communities throughout our State.

Susan Cassagne
MLA President

SirsiDynix Customers Asked to Donate PCs to Mississippi Libraries Affected by Hurricane Katrina »

In cooperation with the Mississippi Library Commission, SirsiDynix is making an appeal to its customers to donate quality PCs for use by Mississippi libraries in serving people and entire communities affected by Hurricane Katrina. Libraries along the Mississippi Gulf Coast destroyed and severely damaged, as well as libraries serving evacuees elsewhere in the state, are in need of PCs to meet the emergency demand for Internet access to FEMA and other disaster-recovery resources.

Mississippi libraries and the people they are seeking to serve will benefit from ready-to-use PC units with the following specifications:

• Complete unit, including base, monitor, mouse, keyboard, cables, and operating system and browser software installed
• Recently manufactured - no more than 3 years old
• Microsoft Windows 2000 or XP operating system
• Intel Pentium III or better microprocessor
• 256K minimum RAM; 512K preferred
• Internet ready with updated browsers
• FEMA form capable (Java scripting)

SirsiDynix customers or other libraries able to donate PCs (including shipping) are asked to contact Treasure Stover of the Mississippi Library Commission at tstover@mlc.lib.ms.us to facilitate the matching of donors to Mississippi libraries in need of additional computers.

SirsiDynix appreciates the efforts of libraries everywhere as they support our friends and colleagues in Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama, and now Texas. What a great opportunity to help libraries in these states, as they are playing indispensable roles in their communities. And by extension, what a great opportunity this is to strengthen all libraries as they seek to play important roles in communities everywhere.

Cathy Lamberth
Manager of Web Development, Marketing
SirsiDynix