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Rebuilding New Orleans One Book at a Time

#8212; Who can resist a happy ending Certainly not 600 librarians who have volunteered to transform the Children's8217;s Resource Center, a historic Carnegie Library in New Orleans, in just five days during the American Library Association's8217;s annual convention here, June 22's8211;28.



Highsmith Inc. (http://www.Highsmith.com), a Wisconsin-based distributor of library supplies, furniture and equipment, is the fairy godmother who is designing, providing product and coordinating installation and delivery for the epic undertaking for the library association. Highsmith'ss project design division, Environments for Libraries (http://www.Highsmith.com/efl) partnered with ALA to create a compelling project to involve its members as they visit an area of the country that was ravaged last year by Hurricane Katrina.



's8220;We speak often of how libraries build communities, and we now have the chance to show the country and world that librarians build communities, too's8221; said American Library Association President Michael Gorman.



The Children's8217;s Resource Center will get a total makeover, including new furniture, carpeting, blinds and even a new, realistic steel-art oak tree from, which will replace a beloved papier-mâché tree the neighborhood children loved to decorate, but that had become dusty and faded.



's8220;The people of New Orleans are going to have a library like they's8217;ve never known,'s8221; enthused Margaret Sullivan, Director, Merchandising, for Highsmith (http://www.Highsmith.com).



In just five days the 1,600-square-foot library will be stripped of all the old, mismatched furniture; painted, recarpeted and reconfigured; and then set up with the new furnishings. Some of the old furniture will be stored so it can in turn be donated to the newer libraries in the area.



The second day of the conference, Friday, June 23, will be spent dismantling the shelves and furniture, moving everything out so that the entire library can be painted. The majority of the next day, Saturday, will be spent carpeting the library, while the mural painting will take place on Sunday, June 25. A marathon day on Monday will be spent setting up and arranging the new furniture, while Tuesday morning will be a busy day moving all the books and materials back in before the ribbon-cutting ceremony that same day at 3:30 p.m.



The visiting librarians and volunteers will be working with Highsmith (http://www.Highsmith.com) employees who will help maximize the small space so that it can serve both the children and the adult collection of books comfortably. In addition, a new space is being carved out for older children who don's8217;t like being lumped in with the little kids.



During all this activity, Susan Guevara, an award winning children's8217;s book illustrator, will be painting a mural based on her book, 's8220;Chato and the Party Animals.'s8221; The 's8220;cool cats's8221; and partying dogs and mice fit nicely in with the culture of the New Orleans neighborhood. Art students from nearby universities will also be recruited to help finish the mural during the weekend.

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| Josefa | Los Angeles | |

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