Great Pumpkin Waltz

Since it's Halloween, I have the Vince Guaraldi Trio's Great Pumpkin Waltz playing on my Myspace page.

Public Libraries Affected by Katrina & Rita

Free Range Librarian has pointed out a map of the public libraries affected by Katrina & Rita.

In Hattiesburg

I've been at my mother's house the past day and a half. I went to a football game in the area, came down here to spend the night, and thought about heading back to Jackson yesterday to go to a Halloween party at Don's, but I didn't feel like it. As previously mentioned, having the blahs & being in a bar is not necessarily a good thing-- and especially on a weekend.

I'll head back up either this evening or tomorrow morning. Gotta be at work tomorrow afternoon, ya know.

Life of Pi

According to the Guardian, Jean-Pierre Jeunet, the director of Amélie & A Very Long Engagement, will be directing the film version of Life of Pi.

Thanks, as always, go to Bookslut.

King of Rochambeau Crowned

The World Rock Paper Scissors competition was recently held in Toronto. First prize: $7,000?

The White House vs. The Onion

Looks like the White House doesn't like The Onion's use of the Presidential seal. You'd think they knew about parody.

Mississippians Abroad

I posted earlier this week about reorganizing my blog setup. One day later, my friend Mel emails me and tells me she started a blog.

So more reorganization... and now there's a separate set of links called Mississippians Abroad for folks I've known here in the state, but don't live here anymore.

My Middle Name

I have a pretty common name. At least my first and last names are common. My middle name though is not that common at all. Although it is a fairly stereotypical yet atypical name for southern white males.

I have my father's first & last names. My middle name is a family tradition from my mother's side of the family. Back during the Recent Unpleasantness, an ancestor of my mother's (I'm thinking her great-grandfather) served under this general.

Ever since then at least one male per generation in my mother's family has had the general's surname as his middle name. One of my mother's first cousins had the Middle Name & he did pretty good for himself. I happen to be one male in my generation who has it. Also, one of my cousins recently gave his newborn son the Middle Name. When I was younger, I gave my English Bulldog the Middle Name.

The ancestor in question who started the tradition is buried at Beauvoir. He was a resident of the Confederate Soldiers Home.

At this point, this post becomes more Katrina-related-- the subject of many of my recent posts.

Beauvoir and the Jefferson Davis Presidential Library were heavily damaged by Katrina. For several days I had thought that Beauvoir itself was totally destroyed, but in a fairly recent conversation with my old school's longtime headmaster who also happens to be a former national commander-in-chief of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, I was told otherwise. You can see the details in this press release.

From what I recall, he said he was grateful for the assistance from various groups-- ranging from guardsmen from Indiana & Kansas for making sure the site was secure & the veterans' cemetery cleared to archivists (I think the Universities of Delaware & Utah were mentioned) helping with recovery efforts.

Tax deductable contributions can be mailed to:

Beauvoir Relief
P O Box 7
Meridian, MS 39302-0007

The Dead White Male of the Month

Chuck Jones

My friend's Katrina photos

I can't remember when I haven't known Mel. We grew up in the same town & went to the same school. I went to Mississippi State straight out of school while she went to Jones before heading up to Starkvegas.

Yesterday, she started up her blog and has photos of damage to the house and property where she grew up-- and this is over 150 miles northeast of New Orleans.

Check them out.

Hurricane Katrina and the Jackson George Regional Library

Harry made reference to my posts regarding the Hancock, Harrison, and Long Beach library systems. I responded by stating that Jackson-George had placed some information regarding the status of their libraries post-Katrina and that I would make it available here on the blog-- and finally after some delay, here's the scoop straight from their site. Normally, I wouldn't do a copy & paste job of this length-- the comments on the Katrina/Libraries posts on this site aren't mine, but I figure that publicity & people knowing what's going on is of higher importance.


Hurricane Katrina and the Jackson George Regional Library

October 2005

When the staff of the Pascagoula Public Library began hurricane preparations on Saturday, August 27th, they fully expected to return to work by the following Tuesday. Hurricane Katrina was only a Category 1 storm, and they’d been through these routine preparations many times before.

But a few hours can change everything. Today, you can stand at one end of the building’s first floor and see the opposite wall, without books, shelving, or furniture obstructing your view.

When the Category 4 storm slammed into the Mississippi Gulf Coast on August 29th, she left 6 inches of floodwaters in most of the tightly sealed Pascagoula Public Library, and 3 feet in the mechanical room.

Mold grows quickly in high heat and humidity. As a result, all first-floor carpeting, wood furniture, cabinets, and doors have been discarded by environmental cleanup specialists. Drywall has been removed up to 4 feet. All shelving in the Jackson County Public Law Library, which is housed in one corner of the building, was removed due to mold contamination.

Fortunately, most of the collection was saved. Books now stand in large stacks around the library floor.

None of the remaining seven branches of the Jackson-George Regional Library System received significant damage, and most services have resumed at those locations.

At this time, there is no firm estimate on the cost of renovation at the Pascagoula branch, but repairs are expected to take six to eight months. Meanwhile, clerical staff have been reassigned to other branches, and headquarters staff are temporarily located at the Ina Thompson Moss Point Library.

Although recovery may be slow, from disaster has come opportunity. On opening day, the Pascagoula Public Library will be a fresher, more functional space, with a renewed commitment to providing the services and resources its community needs.


RELOCATED SERVICES:

Currently, most services housed out of the Headquarters/Pascagoula Branch have been temporarily relocated to the Ina Thompson Moss Point Library, 4119 Bellview Street, Moss Point, MS, 39563, 228-475-7462.
These services include:

Administration: Director, Business Office, IT, Personnel, Purchasing, Public Relations, Staff Development and Training. To contact these offices, please call the Moss Point Library, 228-475-7462, please ask for the specific office or the person you wish to reach.

Law Library: 3 computers are set up with Westlaw database access. Very limited print materials available at this time.Call for specific titles. The law librarian, Faith Kelleher may be reached at 228-475-7462.

Pascagoula Public Library : Manager, Carol Mars’ office has been relocated to the Moss Point Library. She may be reached at 228-475-7462.

Reference: If you have a question or need specific information, please call any of the 7 branch libraries for assistance.

Inter Library Loan: Full service is available through each of the 7 libraries.

Genealogy: Measures were taken to preserve all Genealogy materials. There is no access available to these materials at this time.

Youth Services: Story time programs are being held at all libraries. Click here for times and locations. The Youth Services Coordinator, Mary Ann Louviere, may currently be reached by leaving a message at 228-217-0789.

Donations for the Jackson-George Regional Library:

If you would like to help the Jackson-George Regional Library recover from Hurricane Katrina, donations are being accepted through the Pascagoula Friends of the Library organization. Your tax-deductible donations will be used to help replace materials, shelving, appliances, furniture, and fixtures. Donations may be sent to:

Pascagoula Friends of the Library
4119 Bellview Street
Moss Point, MS 39563

Reorganization

I've been tidying up the blog a little bit. I added some links to additional sites I like to frequent.

I also added some more subheadings. Early readers may remember that I had originally divided the Jacksonian bloggers from Non-Jacksonians before combining. Well, I decided to redivide yet again.

Bloggers are divided into three groups: Planet Jackson for the people I've met here in the Jackson area originally. Planet Usenet for friends and acquaintances I've met originally through usenet groups, which is why the Jackson-area Kudzu Files is placed here. Planet WWW for those people who've I heard of only via the web.

Places & Things were subdivided into different groups.

McSweeneyiana consists of the main McSweeney's site & two particular pages I like.

Mississippiana is made up of Mississippi governmental and media links.

The National & International Media and Professional links are self-explanatory.

Relaxation links largely consists of places, websites, and magazines I like. I also have links to the Jeopardy & North Mississippi Allstars websites.

Sport & Culture links are mostly devoted to sports with the exception of my hometown museum.

I'll see how this works out now.

Trainspotting...

Which Trainspotting Character Are You?

Book Club Shirts...

Heh. It actually looks cool.

The front...

And here's the back.

They can be found here.

RIP - Paul "Wine" Jones

This sucks-- and only 59 years old.

Here's his Fat Possum biography/discography.

Harrison County Library System Information & Gulfport Public Library Photos

From Harrison County's website:

BATTERED BUT NOT BEATEN

Like many of you along the Mississippi Gulf Coast, the Harrison County Library System received extensive damage to several libraries. The Biloxi Public Library, Gulfport Public Library, and Pass Christian Public Library were devastated by Hurricane Katrina's storm surge. The D'Iberville Public Library had some flooding, but the collections were not lost. The other libraries were luckier. With a little repair, we will be able to open them soon. We have thankfully accounted for all of our staff.

Our efforts are now focused on salvaging collections from our devastated locations, repairing damages, and moving our headquarters. The Headquarters, which housed the computer network, was located in the Gulfport Public Library. It is being temporarily moved to the Margaret S. Sherry Memorial Library on Popps Ferry Road. When the computer network is online, we will open libraries. We appreciate your patience during this difficult time.

As we work to restore and rebuild the Harrison County Library System, our thoughts are with those who have suffered a loss as a result of Hurricane Katrina. We would also like to thank all who came to the aid of the Mississippi Gulf Coast.

- The Staff of the Harrison County Library System

I've previously posted a couple times the donation address as far as Mississippi libraries statewide are concerned. Here's the donation contact for Harrison County:

Harrison County Library System
Attn: Robert Lipscomb
C/O Margaret Sherry Memorial Branch Library
2141 Popps Ferry Road
Biloxi, MS 39532


From the Clarion-Ledger web site:

These photos were taken of the second floor of the Gulfport Public Library. According to the captions accompanying these randomly appearing photos today on the main web site, this floor holds the periodicals and the media center. The first floor was washed away, but the structure appears sound.

The head librarian of the public library appears in one of the photos and the director of the Harrison County Library System appears in two photos (the director's the man wearing the cap).

Apparently, it looks like the photos didn't stay at their particular URLs-- so I've deleted the links.

Long Beach Public Library

Information concerning the Long Beach Public Library can be found here. There's things scattered throughout this page that's helpful.

Photographs of Long Beach-- after Katrina.

Hancock County Libraries

From the Hancock County Library System web site:

To all our customers, friends and supporters

Hurricane Katrina dealt all of us in Hancock County a terrible blow. Sadly, our Waveland Library (opened in 2003) and Pearlington Library (opened in 1999) are gutted. All the books, media, furnishings and equipment are gone.

We adopted the motto - - Together We Rebuild, to focuse on what needs to be done to bring our customers and friends the award-winning library and information services to which they are accustomed.

The Bay St. Louis-Hancock County Library suffered roof, building and water damage. We are currently removing the carpet and treating the building for moisture. There is no regular phone service or Internet connection via Bell South. We are working to secure satellite connections at Bay St. Louis. A Library Reference and Referral Center opens Monday, October 10 from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday-Friday in the Highway 90 foyer of the Bay St. Louis-Hancock County Library. Located on the Highway 90 service road between Main and Dunbar Streets. Please share this information with friends and family in Hancock County who may need our services.

The Kiln Public Library had window and roof damage. It is open extended hours seven days a week for library and recovery assistance services. Hours are Monday-Thursday, 8am-6pm; Friday, 8am-5pm; and Saturday and Sunday, 8am-4pm. A Volunteer Reception Center (VRC) is in the meeting room to match county residents' needs with volunteers registering to provide help. A public phone bank and 11 public use laptops are connected via Sateliite compliments of Harris Communications. Residents can pick up a water well sample bottle from the Ms Depart. of Health from the library. Traditional library and information services are available.

Check our website frequently for updates and pictures.

How can you help?

The Library Foundation of Hancock County is working diligently to raise Margin of Excellence funds to assist the Hancock County Library System as Together We Rebuild.

Persons wishing to donate to help rebuild the Hancock County Library System and take its rightful place in the community should click here. Or simply mail donations to: The Library Foundation of Hancock County, 312 Highway 90, Bay St. Louis, MS 39520 (we have just begun to receive mail).

Any questions can be directed to Mary Perkins in the Public Affairs/Development Office at my cell phone: (228) 332-0054.

Thank you immensely for your thoughts, prayers gifts and offers of help.

Literary Devices

I don't have much of a life outside work.

When I'm not at the library, I'm invariably at a bookstore, another library, or at a coffee shop reading something-- whether it's essays on the web, usenet, or whatever.

I read this handy guide to creating some chick lit. Genres of all types have gotten pretty formulaic as of late.

In addition to reading UTV for the book club, I've been thumbing through some other books.

Wonderdog had some mixed reviews. I thought it was pretty good & funny too. I might try reading Inman Majors's other book.

I heard good things from an acquaintance about Lord of the Barnyard. One good thing about being an interlibrary loan librarian is if you want something all you have to do is ask.

It's finally beginning to cool down some. I'll likely head up to Flora this evening. My old high school is playing in the area. I don't get a chance to see them play as often as I did when I was living in Laurel.

Then, it looks like it's Don's tonight & a trip to Hattiesburg tomorrow.

Yet Another Book Post

What else would you expect? I'm a librarian after all.

One of my responsibilities at the library is book ordering. In the past couple weeks, I finally got a chance to do just that for this fiscal year.

A couple weeks ago, I helped a student who was looking for a star-gazing book. While helping him, I thought the collection might benefit from some newer astronomy books. So I did some research. A little bit later, I thought of C, a usenet pal of mine who's an astronomy prof. So I sent him an email.

Here's the very first book he recommended-- he said it was appropriate for everyone and gives them as gifts. He also encouraged me to buy a copy for myself. He & a colleague of his made additional recommendations.

And yes, I ordered the book. Libraries-- whether they're public, school, or collegiate-- always need more Curious George.

A co-worker also handed me record slips of books requested. I've been going through them and made requests based on interest and availability.

Here's something I ordered last fiscal year. These examples of art-- whether they're associated with anime, manga, or graphic novels-- are subjects of interest.

At the book club meeting last week, I was asked what type of book I would be choosing when it was my turn to select. My usual book club m.o. is to pick a book that is a change of pace and would offset other selections. I mentioned I would likely pick a comedic novel. I still don't know which one. I could change my focus some and select this Will Eisner graphic novel. It would be certainly be different. But just because it's different doesn't mean that it'd be a good choice though. I have authors in mind though.