Book drive benefits New Orleans library

By Sam Fran Scavuzzo
Collegian Editor
October 18, 2006

More than one year ago, Hurricanes Katrina and Rita ripped through the Gulf Coast, decimating Mississippi and Louisiana . The city of New Orleans, as seen in countless hours of media coverage, was hit especially hard. Many citizens died and many more became homeless, their entire lives shaken up.

In addition to the many homes that were destroyed, public places such as movie theaters, shopping malls and libraries were wiped out in the wake of the hurricanes. The city of New Orleans is receiving help from various organizations throughout the United States to rebuild the lives that have been forever changed. One of these efforts is a book drive being led by students at La Salle.

Seniors Kaylin Morrissey and Aaron Spence are organizing the drive to aid in replenishing the diminished supply of books in the New Orleans Public Library.

“It’s been in the back of my mind to do something [to help hurricane victims] for a long time,” Morrissey said. “I kept getting e-mails about this from PaperBackSwap.com and thought this would be a good way to help. I think this is one aspect of the hurricanes that has been overlooked.”

Spence, a history and philosophy double major, is a service scholar with Morrissey, a sociology and psychology major.

“We wanted to help victims in a proactive way,” Spence said. “We are at an educational institution with books all around us. I thought it would be natural for students to give what they have available to them.”

The book drive is not the only show of Lasallian charity students are working on. A letter-writing campaign with a fellow Christian Brothers high school in New Orleans is also being organized by the Point, a group of student leaders of campus organizations.

Senior Point member Chris Heisler discussed the letter-writing drive.

“We want to help in ways that may not have been as essential right after it happened but are important now that they try and resume a normal life,” Heisler said.

Students interested in the drive are welcome to contact any Point member or Dean of Students Joseph Cicala’s office.

PaperBackSwap.com is leading the effort for the New Orleans Public Library Rebuilding Campaign. Thus far, more than one million used and new books have been donated to the cause, according to its Web site. The Web site, like Morrissey and Spence, encourages any and all books to be donated.

“Please give anything. Old textbooks are fine,” Morrissey said.

Starting after the fall holiday and continuing on until the end of the semester, book drop boxes will be located at various spots around campus. Treetops Café, B&G, the Union, the lobby of the Connelly Library and in the stairwell below the UMAS office at Benilde Hall will all be drop box locations.

Donations to Morrissey and Spence will also be accepted.

“Right now, the issue of postage is still up in the air,” Spence said. “We are going to exhaust every resource we can to get these books down to New Orleans.”

Additionally, PaperBackSwap.com is selling “Rebuild NOPL” T-shirts on its Web site, and is accepting any other donations.

As students go home over the break, Morrissey encourages them to bring books back to school with them.

“I know I have a big stack of old English books back at my house that I’m bringing back with me,” she said.

scavuzzos1@lasalle.edu