Princeton students are building a "Levee for Life" to Help New Orleans Public Libraries

www.Katrina-Project.org

Many of us have been moved by the tragedy of Hurricane Katrina to help in whatever way we can.  Now, seven months after the levees broke, students at Princeton University have created an opportunity for all Americans to help rebuild the New Orleans Public Library (NOPL).  

Like everything else in the city, the library was devastated by Hurricane Katrina. Damage is estimated at $26-$30 million.  Eight of the libraries branches were a total loss.  Five other branches experienced substantial damage, but have been able to reopen, despite operating with a staff 20% of its original size.  The library provides essential services to the people of New Orleans, and it sustains community all over the city.  If ideas and community matter -- and they do -- then libraries matter, too.

How can you help?  Simple.  Help students build a levee of books,  the Levee for Life.  More information below the fold.

How It Works
  -- Purchase a "book brick" for $8.95 at powells.com/katrina, these pledges provide the resources to rebuild the New Orleans Public Library.

 -- Princeton students add a discarded library book to the Levee for Life to serve as a proxy for each pledge made online.

 -- Your pledge,  every cent,  is delivered to the New Orleans Public Library Foundation, a 501(c)(3) educational and charitable organization whose mission is to support the New Orleans Public Library (NOPL).

But the levee is not just a wall of books and it is about more than the NOPL.

The Levee for Life is our call for a wall of ideas to stem the rising waters of poverty and inequality in America.  By speaking up on behalf of our neighbors, these students can help all of us to:

 -- Keep the Gulf Coast tragedy fully in the public eye
 -- Promote a serious national conversation about poverty and inequality

Every book that grows the Levee for Life testifies to Americans' desire to see the lives of our brothers and sisters on the Gulf Coast restored.  Every book built into the levee speaks to our determination to get to work in addressing poverty and inequality in our country.

These books speak volumes.

The goal of The Katrina Project is 10,000 books in the levee.  If the students reach their goal, the Levee for Life will state clearly that we Americans care about our neighbors, their families,  and the conditions of their lives. The action will continue for at least another month, so find out what's happening at www.Katrina-Project.org and spread the word.