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A Place Where The Wind Is Not Howling
By Carole D. Fiore
I woke to a glorious September day filled with abundant sunshine. I also woke to the sounds of chainsaws. A neighbor was cutting up the 90-foot pine tree that had fallen into his yard when the outer bands of Hurricane Ivan crossed Florida's big bend area. This noise was a rude reminder of the previous weeks and of our good fortune in not being directly affected by one of the worst hurricane seasons in history. While those of us in the Tallahassee area had been spared most of the wrath of Charlie, Frances, and most recently Ivan, we were, nonetheless, recovering from this series of natural disasters that had struck our neighbors to the south, east, and west. People as far away as the northeast, Canada, and even England felt some of the effects of these storms.
It seems like we have been living with threats of these ominous storms for weeks. Preparation has become a way of life. While local, state, and federal government agencies prepared for the worst, families and individuals did the same; and everyone hoped for the best. In libraries, preparations included moving books off bottom shelves to protect them from rising waters; shelved were draped with visqueen to protect their contents from water that might come in if roofs were blown off. Interlibrary loan staff in areas that anticipated the approaching storm sent out electronic notification that they would not be able to fill requests for the foreseeable future.
On the home front, people lined up at home improvement stores gathering hurricane supplies like flashlights, plywood to cover windows, and generators. Water, milk, bread, canned goods, and other staples became scarce even in the most well stocked grocery stores. Cell phones were charged and at the ready in anticipation of land line phone service disruptions. Readers made trips to libraries and bookstores to stock up on reading materials. People in mobile homes and those living in low-lying areas near the coast evacuated to friends' houses, inland hotels, and public shelters.
It seems that no one ignored the warnings. Most everyone got out of harm's way. But no matter how much you prepare for something like this, you cannot move buildings. School libraries in Charlotte County were hit hard during Hurricane Charlie; several were destroyed. The main public library in Kissimmee, Osceola County lost a portion of its roof and sustained additional interior damage during Frances. This library now needs a significant amount of remodeling to restore it to pre storm condition and function. At the time of writing, I have not been able to find out what has happened to libraries and library staff in the Panhandle. With phone and electric service disrupted and even major roads destroyed (part of I-10 that is supposed to go over Escambia Bay is underwater), it may take days for us to know what really happened to the buildings and the people.
Many library staff, though listed as "nonessential," were recruited to work in local emergency operations centers. With computer and customer service skills, library staff contributed to keeping communities informed during and after the storms. Several libraries had been built to withstand nature's destructive forces and therefore became support centers housing National Guard troops. While phone lines went out in some communities, libraries on fiber optic cables were able to keep their Internet access operable and available, thus allowing residents to communicate with family and friends in far flung areas of the country and the world.
As part of the recovery effort, the Southwest Florida Library Network set up a disaster relief fund after Hurricane Charlie hit many of their member libraries. People can make donations online at http://www.swfln.org/librarydisasterfund.html. Funds will be used for direct and personal assistance for staff and libraries with needs created by the storms. The Florida Library Association is also establishing a relief fund for the entire state; information is online at http://www.flalib.org/library/fla/libynews.shtml.
While the Red Cross has been there to feed the body, libraries need to be there to feed the soul. I would like to see the day when libraries are included more in the preparation phase. Library staff could partner with the Red Cross to train shelter volunteers to do some story sharing. Having boxes of books at shelters will provide a diversion for families during these distressing times. Publishers might be able to help provide collections that could be distributed in time of emergency. Selections should include materials for all ages—from picture books to short stories, chapter books to poetry, music to games and activities.
Even though there are more storms lurking out in the Atlantic, libraries are reopening to safely serve their communities as quickly as they can. Many that cancelled programs have rescheduled them. The programs are giving families something positive to do and a chance to focus on something other than cleanup and rebuilding. Books and library programs are providing an escape to a place where the wind is not howling and the building is not shaking. In times like this, books and libraries can help us see—and reach—the light at the end of the tunnel. •
Carole D. Fiore is a Public Library Consultant for Youth Services for the State Library of Florida and author of Running Summer Library Reading Programs: A How-to-do-it Manual (Neal-Schuman, 1998).
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