Month: September 2011

If you saw this blog post, you know how the Wells Memorial Library in Upper Jay, NY was devastated by a flood & lost its children’s section to Tropical Storm Irene, and how The Bookstore Plus and people from all over the world now are pitching in to help rebuild.  If you want to help this library – or the West Hartford Library in Vermont, which lost its ENTIRE children’s collection in the floods – there’s tons of information on how to do that here.

The good news today? Help is coming. The library director has been flooded with emails of offers to send books, computers, workers, and more – and while the library doesn’t have space to store many books at this time, they so appreciate the donations that have been coming via The Bookstore Plus ($1600 on a gift card so far, and counting, and from as far away as Germany and England) and in the form of checks to the library. David Mazor at Reader to Reader just emailed to tell me his organization is providing six new computers to replace the ones the library lost. On top of that, authors and illustrators have been donating original art and signed books for a silent auction to be held as part of a big fundraiser at The Bookstore Plus in October. (More on that here)

But rebuilding is going to be a long process.  Here’s what was going on at the library today…

The basement was filled with not only river and mud but also items that had been donated for the library’s fundraiser sale. Washing dishes and other glass items that could be saved was a great job for the kids who came to help.

These books had been collected for a library book sale fundraiser. They were all lost in the basement which was completely filled with water and mud. Volunteers passed crates and crates of mud and mud-filled books up the steps all day.

Tomorrow will be another work day at the library.  If you’re not too far away and want to pitch in, carrying books, washing walls, or generally cleaning up, they’d appreciate your help. Work starts at 9 AM.  Bring rubber gloves. Wear old clothes and tall rubber boots if you can.  I literally had to be hosed off before I could get back in my car today.

And if you live too far away to come shovel mud, you can help in other ways:

Send a check to:

First of all, a huge thank you to EVERYONE who responded to my blog post yesterday about the Wells Memorial Library in Upper Jay, NY.

The library lost virtually its entire children’s section in flooding during Hurricane Irene. You can read more – and see some pictures that will break your heart if you love books – here.

There’s also a lot of information about how to help, including a partnership with terrific indie booksellers at The Bookstore Plus. If you call them at 518-523-2950 or visit their website, you can choose a book to donate to the library, and the bookstore will store it for them until they’re ready.  Or you can donate to a gift card for the library so librarians can choose books later on.  The response, so far, has been amazing, and I’m told the bookstore has more than $700 on that gift card right now. What a great start!

I’m working with Sarah at The Bookstore Plus now on what I hope will be a huge fundraiser for the library.  On October 22nd, they’re going to host an evening reception where book lovers of all ages and members of Lake Placid’s vibrant arts community can come purchase books for the library.  It’ll include author/illustrator appearances and (we hope) a silent auction of original art from children’s book illustrators. (I just  heard from a couple illustrators who have offered to donate, so it looks like this part of the fund raiser is a go!)

If you’re a children’s book illustrator who would like to donate a piece to help this library rebuild after Hurricane Irene, would you please touch base with me, either in a comment or via Facebook or email (kmessner at kate messner dot com) to let me know?  I told the bookstore I’d coordinate, so I’ll take your information, pass it along to Sarah, and then the art can be sent directly to the bookstore. They’ll will use the pieces in a big window display before the auction and then all proceeds will be donated directly to the library.

I understand that this is asking a lot…and I’m sure you get many requests each year and have to pick and choose which efforts to support, if you donate art at all. But I thought I’d put the word out, just in case this is a cause that you’d like to get behind. It would be much appreciated by the librarians and the families of this community.

Authors: If you’d like to donate a signed book, that would also be most welcome!  Please mark clearly on the envelope “FOR SILENT AUCTION”

Here’s the bookstore address: