'Louisiana Purchases' to Aid Katrina Arts Relief

Hurricane recovery is progressing slowly in New Orleans and southeastern Louisiana, and members of local arts and literary communities are facing tremendous challenges. In addition to coping with personal loss, they are faced with unprecedented cuts to public arts programs, private support jeopardized by a struggling economy, and the absence of vital community members who are scattered throughout the country.

To help respond to these challenges, the New Orleans bookselling community, as members of the New Orleans Gulf South Booksellers Association (NOGSBA), is encouraging booksellers around the country to participate in "Louisiana Purchases," a special effort to bring attention to, and help raise funds for, K.A.R.E.S. -- Katrina Arts Relief and Emergency Support.

"Louisiana Purchases" features a "recommended titles list" offering a selection of books across a variety of genres that are set in, or about, the New Orleans-area. Booksellers are encouraged to set up displays in time for this year's celebration of Mardi Gras, which begins on Tuesday, February 28. The list includes titles in the categories of fiction, nonfiction/history, pictorial/other, and children's.

Britton Trice, chair of NOGSBA and owner of New Orleans' Garden District Bookshop, which reopened on October 10, is urging booksellers to participate in the promotion. "Any type of display showing Louisiana books would certainly be helpful," he said. "The more stores that can participate, the more it helps to keep the public aware that there's still desperate need here."

The bibliography and information about the promotion is available in a downloadable flier. A "Louisiana Purchases" flier, which reminds all to "remember the place that care forgot," is also included in the February Red Box mailing to stores with Book Sense. Donations and a portion of sales from the "Louisiana Purchases" display can then be sent to K.A.R.E.S., which is administered through the New Orleans Literary Institute (www.neworleansliteraryinstitute.com).

The Booksellers Relief Fund, administered by the American Booksellers Association, is also making a contribution to K.A.R.E.S.