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Hi, Jim- I would really be interested in hearing about your organization’s experience after Katrina if there is ever some time. I think it would be really helpful. So good to have this community of folks! Lizz Lizz Sinclair Director of Programs Maine Humanities Council / Maine Center for the Book 674 Brighton Avenue Portland, Maine 04102 (207) 773-5051 ext. 206 www.mainehumanities.org she, her Maine communities transformed by the power & pleasure of ideas From: Center for the Book state centers communication <[log in to unmask]> on behalf of "Lamolinara, Guy" <[log in to unmask]> Reply-To: Center for the Book state centers communication <[log in to unmask]> Date: Tuesday, March 24, 2020 at 12:49 PM To: <[log in to unmask]> Subject: Re: working in the age of coronavirus Hi, Jim, you are so right re the importance of the humanities. I hope you get to have your book festival. Here is the page we did for Tracy K. Smith’s great Louisiana visit in December 2018. http://read.gov/americanconversations/louisiana/index.html All the best. From: Center for the Book state centers communication <[log in to unmask]> On Behalf Of Jim Davis Sent: Tuesday, March 24, 2020 9:51 AM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: working in the age of coronavirus State Library of Louisiana is closed as of 5:00 p.m. yesterday, with staff working remotely, and Louisiana Center for the Book included. We have cancelled our poetry month program “Just Listen to Yourself: Louisiana’s Poet Laureate Presents Louisiana Poets.” This time of year is always our busiest time preparing for our fall book festival (this year on Halloween, thanks to the LSU football schedule and bye week). We continue planning, optimistically hopeful that “this too shall pass” as we invite authors and so forth, all with the understanding that we can’t know whether we will be able to have the festival or not. We just know that we can’t have it if we don’t prepare as usual for it now. I know firsthand from the post-Katrina experience that once this is over, people are going to need us all more than ever. Humanities make our lives worth living. Stay well, everybody. Jim Jim Davis Director of the Louisiana Center for the Book State Library of Louisiana 701 North 4th Street Baton Rouge, LA 70802-5232 Phone: 225-342-9714 / Fax: 225-219-9840 Do not forward this message without permission. This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed. If you have received this email in error you may not copy or disseminate this message in any manner. Please notify the sender by return email that you received this transmission in error, and delete it from your computer. From: Center for the Book state centers communication <[log in to unmask]> On Behalf Of Lamolinara, Guy Sent: Monday, March 23, 2020 2:36 PM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: working in the age of coronavirus Dear Affiliates, It is hard for me sometimes to believe how are lives and work activities have so drastically changed in just the past two weeks! I just started teleworking last week and am still getting used to the lack of social interchange with my colleagues face-to-face. I have never teleworked before because I have always enjoyed coming into the office each day. It also puts me in a “work” mindset. The constant racket from the construction project next door is a constant and annoying distraction. If you know Alexandria, Va., and its historic district, then you know we all live in rowhouses in a densely populated neighborhood. I live in one of those rowhouses, attached on only one side. Right next door, about 12 feet away, they are erecting a large Sunrise senior living facility on what has been a parking lot for the entire 33 years I have lived in this house. At least when the times comes, I won’t have to move very far! On a more serious level, I am writing to reach out and learn how all of you are coping, how your work, activities and plans have changed, and what I (and the Library of Congress) can do to support you. I can tell you we are planning to release online later this week the beginning of a series of reading and learning activities with some top authors who have agreed to work with us to reach out to young readers who are home from school. As soon as I have details, I will let you know. Perhaps it is something you can offer your users. Can you tell us if you are engaging in any novel approaches to reaching your constituencies? What activities have you been forced to cancel? Are you doing any virtual programming? Are you involved in a state or local book festival? Are you making contingency plans? Anything you would like to say to get the conversation going, please share. Take care. I hope we return to “normal” soon, whatever the new normal may be. Guy