Friday Back at Singleton

I woke up for early morning KP today at about 5:45. Way too early! Our day would prove to be fairly low-key today, but we did really get a lot done.

Carla, Val and I, along with Hands-On leader Melody, signed-on to spend the day at Singleton continuing our work at the library. Melody had purchased shelves from Home Depot the day before so our first task of the day was assembling the shelves. We did this work at the church then brought the shelves over to the school in a truck.

Most of our day was spent either alphabetizing the fiction collection, putting labels on spines and getting as many books as possible onto the shelves. We really only touched the tip of the iceberg. We got some of the fiction done and on the shelves but a lot remains. Also, there are still boxes of picture books that we didn’t have time to get to or space to put them.

It was really an awesome day to see the library start to take shape. For just a couple days of work we took what had been started by the Bard kids and really whipped the library into shape. I’m glad I could help on this project and use the skills I have gained from years working in a children’s library.

We got four student helpers during the day from Singleton. They were cute kids and eager to help. You just have to feel for these kids whose lives are so chaotic and whose futures are still so up in the air. There school has a long way to go before it’s really giving these kids what they need. Everywhere you look, lives have been turned upside down.

Val was such a good worker today. She reminded me a lot of working with Pat Hammer back at school. She’s a very efficient worker and mixes in some great humor throughout the day. She wanted to work until 9:00 at night, but we convinced her that at 5:00 it was time to go.

Who know what will come of the Singleton library, but with Melody watching over it and continuing our work when we leave, it should be in good hands. Carla might also come back for a day during the ALA conference next week and even bring some other librarians with her to help. Whether anyone at Singleton will step up to oversee the day to day management of the library is yet to be seen. The hope is that someone will. Perhaps if the students show how interested they are in using the library, that a teacher at the school will realize the importance of keeping the library going and improving. Word is Singleton is still attempting to finance the building of a more permanent library. Time will tell.

After our work day we had the chance to say our goodbyes during the dinner meeting at the church. Then following that Carla and I drove out to Slidell and took Miss Frances, Rev. Lance’s grandmother, and her friend Elvira to dinner. It was nice to see them again and sort of repay them for the wonderful night they gave us back in April back at Miss Frances’ home.

Carla and I came back into New Orleans around 10:30, passing across Lake Ponchatrain from a different direction. House upon house had been totally destroyed along the lake. Elvira told us that at that particular spot there was a 30 foot storm surge. Amazing! We met up with the clan in the French Quarter and took in some music at D.B.A. for our final night together.

Thursday Night

Shock rang through the crowd during Hands On’s No Talent Talent Show Thursday night. It was quite the interesting spectacle. One dude from Bard College in New York (there are about 30 students here from Bard) sang a couple of original songs while strumming his guitar. One song was about cloning himself into an army of zombies, and the other was about his love affair with the red goalie from the foosball table. Yeah.

Unfortunately that wasn’t as weird as it got. One of the groups from AmeriCorps is leaving Friday so they did a “togetherness” sort of thing for their act. They sat in chairs, each nibbling on an oreo cookie, then passed a toothbrush and toothpaste down the line each taking turns brushing with the same brush. When each finished brushing they spit into a common cup. We were all dreading what would happen in the end. And our worst fears were realized when the last gal in line proceeded to drink everyone’s spit. I don’t know that I’ll ever be able to shake that sight from my memory. I probably could’ve lived life without seeing what I saw tonight.

After the show a few of us went to Winn-Dixie just for kicks to buy some food and drinks to bring home with us. Then we ended the night with some good hot coffees and beignets at Café DuMonde.