Why is it that so many people are allowed to drive without having enough insurance to cover the victims of their bad driving? In this age of computers I can't imagine why it is so difficult to link insurance policies in state databases to car registrations and driver's license information. What follows (From the Bastrop Daily Enterprise in Bastrop, LA) is a case of one uninsured person being allowed to do injury to a whole town and its children.A year ago, a car plowed through the front of the Dunbar Branch of the Morehouse Parish Library....
Remodeling the building only took a few months, but replacing the books destroyed in the accident is a task far from complete.
The library has an empty feeling to it, and indeed many of the bookshelves stand starkly empty. Many of the books the library has left are in tatters. It's enough to make branch manager April Jones shake her head in sadness. The building may be whole again, but its collections are not.
Unfortunately, replacing the books is likely to take a long time. Head librarian Mary Hodgkins said it will take two to three years to get the shelves at Dunbar full again. The library board received no insurance money from the accident, as the driver was uninsured and the deductible on the library's own policy was $50,000-- the amount it took to repair the building....
The library board only has a $50,000 annual budget for books, and that must be divided between all the branches in the system.
The library once had an extensive children's section, but that section was hit the hardest by the accident. Jones said that where she once had nine shelves chock full of books, she now has only two shelves that are mostly empty. A small bookshelf against the front wall holds what few new books the library has received since the accident.
"All the books you see, that's what I salvaged," Jones said, pointing to the sparsely filled bookshelves. "I picked through what I could, and this is what's left."
Here's hoping that the people of Morehouse Parish find a few "book angels" who will help them get things back in order ahead of schedule.
Is there a way to donate books?
ReplyDeleteHi Sam,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the recommendation at my blog. I will look into getting it.
I feel terrible these people. I would be lost without my library.
Amy aka The Sleepy Reader
Amy, let me know what you think of it...I'm a little reluctant to steer people toward something I liked because I hate to disappoint them.
ReplyDeletej.anne, I've emailed the newspaper and I'm waiting for a response to see if they will accept donated books or money. Thanks for asking.