Aid for Schools or Public Libraries Damaged by Hurricane Sandy

We've put together a list of resources for schools and public libraries damaged by Hurricane Sandy - hundreds across the area and in New York City. We will update as we gather more information, and please share any information you have in the comments.

• The Simon & Schuster publishing company is “offering to any public or school library damaged by Hurricane Sandy a donation of 500 ‘best of’ titles in order to help in the restoration of their collections.”  They are inviting individual libraries and schools to participate with them in this effort. If you know a school or library in need, please have them contact michelle.fadlalla@simonandschuster.com in the Education and Library Marketing department.
• Scholastic Books has created a program, “One Million Book Donation for Schools and Libraries”. They are accepting book grant requests from heavily-damaged schools and libraries in the tri-state region. Find their application and more info here.
• First Book is a nonprofit organization that gives new books to children in need. If your program’s books have been damaged by Sandy, contact First Book here.

In our neighborhood, this Saturday, November 17, local Girl Scout troop 2440 will be collecting new and gently used books to help re-stock the shelves of P.S. 52 in Staten Island. P.S. 52 was hit so hard by hurricane Sandy that they are still pumping water and sewage out of the building. All of their books were ruined. If you live nearby you can drop off kid's books at the Citibank on 375 Court Street (@1st Pl) from 10am-1pm. The target age range for books is 5-12 years old.

Finally, the Brooklyn Public Library has stepped up in a number of important ways to help hurricane relief efforts, from accepting and distributing donations at many branches, to sending out bookmobiles to bring books, donations and charging centers to hard hit areas, to establishing warming centers and visiting children at storm evacuation centers and more.  A number of Brooklyn Public Library branches suffered damage from the storm - flooding damaged furniture and books at the Red Hook branch for instance.  If you would like to help the Brooklyn Public Library restore damaged collections, you can donate here- the link will bring you to a donation page where you can specifically designate funds for "BPL Hurricane Sandy Relief Efforts" if you'd like. Thank you!

Sandy Recovery Writing Workshops at the CG library

Friends of the Carroll Gardens Library is pleased to announce that the NY Writers Coalition will be providing free writing workshops that aim to allow people to express their thoughts about the hurricane and its aftermath.  In response to the storm, they decided to provide a space for people to find community and write in a supportive environment.

Please join NY Writers Coalition for a free community workshop at the library  on Tuesdays at 5:15-7:30 p.m beginning Tuesday, November 13, 2012.

Open to writers of all genres -- poetry, fiction, memoir, whatever you want to write. All levels of experience are welcome and no advance sign-up is necessary.

About NY Writers Coalition: NYWC provides free, unique, and powerful creative writing workshops throughout New York City for people from groups that have been historically deprived of voice in our society, including at-risk and disconnected youth, the homeless and formerly homeless, the incarcerated and formerly incarcerated, war veterans, people with disabilities, cancer and major illness, immigrants, seniors and others. For more information, visit www.nywriterscoalition.org

Hurricane Sandy

Like everyone else in our region we are deeply concerned about how Hurricane Sandy has hurt the people in the community.  We as members of the Friends group and just people who care about our fellow neighbors have been involved in many volunteer efforts and are also proud to support all initiatives to help.   This page on the BPL website will be regularly updated with information, needed supplies and efforts to assist http://www.brooklynpubliclibrary.org/hurricane.

Please see the information above about how you can donate supplies and what to bring to the Carroll Gardens library beginning Thursday, November 8.

The Brooklyn Public Library has been collecting and distributing supplies with their mobile book units for several days, bringing needed items, books for children and also serving as charging stations for electronics.

When the Carroll Gardens library was a voting site on Election Day, community members capitalized on long lines to organize a wonderfully successful bake sale to raise funds for local relief and recovery efforts - they raised more than $2,000!

Neighborhoods close to Carroll Gardens like Red Hook and Gowanus, and places much further away like Staten Island, Rockaway, Coney Island and New Jersey are in our thoughts.  We'll continue to post   information and ways to help as they arise.