I’d heard that the New Orleans Public Library was in deep trouble, more from the city’s intent to shutter it than anything that Hurricane Katrina did. I’d wanted details, though, so I went to Google news, put "New Orleans Public Library" into the search field, clicked on the patented (if not then soon, I’m sure) Ye Olde Magic SEARCH Buttonne and got four completely contradictory results. That is, the results were fine, the stories they pulled up were contradictory.
First I got this one, "Purchasing Guide Good Start in getting N.O. Library Back Up" from 2theadvocate.com, dated October 9.
October 10 edition of Library Journal carried this one: "New Orleans to Slash Jobs; Library Likely to Suffer". Note that I’m not disputing the veracity of the headline (seeing as how libraries always suffer when tax revenue collapses), I’m just wondering how timely it is.
The reason I’m wondering is that way back (comparitively speaking) on October 7, American Libraries Online published this tidbit titled "New Orleans Public Library Services Terminated."
It’s an ugly, ugly headline but if it comes earlier than the other articles–if the place was officially terminated, why was the buying guide issued? ANd this particular article sort of makes the Library Journal story redundant, doesn’t it?
Or does it? That’s when I foud this gem, also from ALAO: "Retired New orleand Public Library StafferWins Big in Casino":
"A 30-year veteran of the New Orleans Public Library, who had moved to
Opelousas, Louisiana, to stay with family after Hurricane Katrina left
her homeless last month, won $1.6 million at a casino October 4 after
spending only $4.25 in a Wheel of Fortune game.
Jacquelyn Sherman, who had worked at the East New Orleans Regional and
Nora Navra branches before retiring about 10 years ago, stopped at the
Evangeline Downs Racetrack and Casino in Opelousas with her sister
Clarissa to try her luck at the casino games. “She told me that if I
needed her she would be at the Wheel of Fortune machine,” Clarissa said
in the October 6 Opelousas Daily World. “I received a
hysterical call from her telling me that she wanted me to meet her at
the machine. When I arrived, she was surrounded by security guards. The
first thing I asked her was, ’Did you break these people’s machine?’”"
Maybe Ms. Sherman can help the library out a bit?
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