ALA Executive Director Keith Michael Fiels, Conference Services Director Deidre Ross, Senior Associate Executive Director Mary Ghikas, and Associate Executive Director for Finance Gregory Calloway traveled to New Orleans October 11 to get a firsthand look at the recovery process and to negotiate with convention bureau officials for assurances that the convention center and hotels will be ready.
“The ALA delegation found a downtown, French Quarter, and Garden District that had escaped flooding, and where essential services have been fully restored,” said ALA President Michael Gorman. “They found the conference center and conference hotels bustling with hundreds of workmen repairing broken windows, installing new drywall, and laying new carpeting. Restaurants are reopening on a daily basis, and plans are already underway for Mardi Gras in February.”
“We realize that many sections of the city, and particularly the Ninth Ward, have suffered tragic damage, and that many New Orleans residents have lost their homes forever,” Gorman said. “If we truly care about the residents of New Orleans, however, the best thing that the Association and its members can do is to go to New Orleans and lead the reconstruction by example. Our conference will provide the jobs and tax revenues needed to help residents reestablish their lives and for the city to restore services, including library services. We speak often of how libraries build communities, and we now have a chance to show the country and the world that librarians build communities, too.”
Support for remaining in New Orleans is strong among members of the ALA Council and the general membership. Asked in October to weigh in on the decision, American Libraries readers responded 4-to-1 in favor of going to New Orleans.
“Of course ALA should go to New Orleans in June if at all possible,” wrote Peggy Higgins of Brevard (N.C.) College. “Even in a less-than-pristine condition, New Orleans is by far the most interesting, most cosmopolitan city in the United States.”
Diana Balint of Oakwood Southshore Medical Library in Trenton, Michigan, wrote, “I and at least eight of my colleagues are ready and willing to go to New Orleans in June of 2006. What better way to show support for the Louisiana libraries than with our tourism dollars? The 150th Mardi Gras is going on, so why shouldn’t we? I’ll be there!”
Those who said ALA should not go to New Orleans were largely concerned about health and safety issues—drinking water, allergic reactions, and the ability of hotels and restaurants to recover in time. More information on the reconstruction in New Orleans, as well as sources for further information on health and safety issues will appear in future issues of AL and on the ALA website. Early registration opens December 1, and a preliminary program is scheduled to mail with the March issue of American Libraries.
Posted October 21, 2005.