Children displaced by Hurricane Katrina will soon receive a shipment of books donated by Coloradans through a book drive organized at the University of Colorado at Boulder.
Donated books should be dropped off by Sept. 14 at the CU-Boulder School of Education in room 151 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Books also can be dropped off or purchased for the effort Sept. 9-11 from 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. at the Barnes and Noble bookstore at 2915 Pearl St. in Boulder. A portion of the proceeds from books purchased at Barnes and Noble for the book drive will be donated by the company to hurricane relief efforts.
Brian Sevier, an assistant professor in CU-Boulder's School of Education and graduate student Michelle Reidel are spearheading the effort to provide books to children staying in the Houston Astrodome.
"People can donate new and gently used books that would appeal to children in a wide range of ages," Sevier said. "We're looking for everything from picture books to novels."
The books will be sent to the Houston Independent School District, which will then deliver them to the Astrodome. For more information about the book drive contact Sevier at (303) 492-8479.
Officials at the CU-Boulder School of Law also are preparing to donate large sets of legal volumes to academic and government offices that were damaged or destroyed as a result of Hurricane Katrina.
A large amount of the CU Law Library's excess print materials had been slated for recycling in advance of the opening of the new Wolf Law Building, but officials now will hang onto the material and hope to donate it as needs become known.
Barbara Bintliff, director of the CU-Boulder Law Library, said several university law libraries in the region escaped major damage but other offices may not fare as well. "Libraries tend to be on the lower floor of buildings, making them susceptible to extensive damage even from minor flooding. Some federal and state courts and numerous legal organizations have lost all their library collections this week," Bintliff said.
Also on campus, the University of Colorado Student Union is leading "CU Hurricane Relief," a large collaboration of groups and individuals from CU-Boulder and the Boulder community. The group aims to raise monetary donations on behalf of the American Red Cross, the United Way and the Salvation Army, as well as to raise awareness of the impending public health crisis in the Gulf Coast region.
Those interested in making a donation or helping the victims of Hurricane Katrina can e-mail UCSU's Stephen Fenberg at Stephen.fenberg@colorado.edu.