When hurricanes Katrina and Rita roared through Louisiana nearly seven years ago, many parish libraries were left water-damaged and with shortened staffs.
The Institute of Museum and Library Services gave funding to the University’s School of Library and Information Science in July 2009 to start a program to help affected libraries called Project Recovery. After receiving funding, the program began a semester-long search for 30 graduate students who would participate, according to Principal Investigator and Project Manager Alma Dawson.
“We wanted students to do more than course work,” she said.
Students have worked at several Katrina- and Rita-affected parish libraries: Calcasieu, Cameron, Jefferson, Orleans, St. Bernard, St. Tammany, Terrebonne and Vermilion, according to Project Recovery’s program.
The students began participating in Project Recovery in January 2010 and signed a contract agreeing they would participate in the program until graduation and then work in the hurricane-affected libraries for two years. Students spend time earning a 40-credit degree while working on individual projects chosen by the library where they work for a semester, Dawson said.
Library and information science graduate student Tawanda Carter had been out of school for 10 years but said she heard about Project Recovery from a library where she previously worked. After sending in an application, she was accepted into the program and has participated since fall 2010, she said.
“It has really given me a lot of hands-on experience,” Carter said.
Carter said she has worked at elementary and high school libraries in Orleans Parish with the program. Some of the projects she worked on with the libraries included promoting “Sexy Supernatural” books for adults and creating door and window displays, along with bulletin boards, she said.
The program has been a great experience, Carter said, because she has been able to connect with librarians all over the state who she may never have met. She said she’s grown close to others in the program.
“I’m going to leave with a lot of friends in Louisiana,” Carter said.
The grant for Project Recovery covers students’ expenses, including tuition and stipends. Travel expenses are also covered in the program, Carter said.
During the project’s lifespan, three students graduated in August 2011, five will graduate in May 2012, 15 will graduate August 2012 and one will graduate May 2013, Dawson said.
Parish libraries that were affected by the storms still face staffing shortages due to retiring workers. The students work in these libraries to help fill the need of missing staff, Dawson said.
“I feel like I’m coming in at a time when there’s a lot out there,” Carter said.
 
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Contact Brian Sibille at [email protected]