Gulf Coast Booksellers Offer Each Other Encouragement & Support at New Orleans Forum

[1]On Tuesday, March 14, a number of Gulf Coast booksellers who were severely affected by Hurricane Katrina came together at Galatoire's restaurant on Bourbon Street for an ABA Booksellers Forum, hosted by ABA COO Oren Teicher, BookSense.com Director Len Vlahos, and Director of Special Projects David Walker. For many in attendance, the event was the first time they had a chance to meet with their bookseller colleagues since Katrina devastated the area in August 2005.

"It gave us all a chance to connect again ... it did for me anyway," said Susan Daigre of Bookends in Bay St. Louis. "It was good to connect and to be a part of bookselling."

Daigre's bookstore was completely destroyed by Hurricane Katrina, but she's since found a new location and hopes to open in mid-May. "It was nice to be with people where I didn't have to put into words what happened, because they already know," Daigre said.

Michele Lewis of New Orleans' Afro American Book Stop, who lost her home and her two bookstores to the hurricane, said that she "truly enjoyed" the forum and was pleased to have staff from ABA come to the area to see how booksellers are doing. In addition, she appreciated the fellowship that the forum provided. "We spent a portion of the time finding out how everyone is doing -- and not just those from New Orleans, but Mississippi, too," Lewis said.

Since the last week in November, Lewis has been operating an outpost of Afro American Book Stop at Beaucoup Books in New Orleans' Garden District, which was spared most of Katrina's destruction. Lewis is set up in one of Beaucoup's four rooms, which was offered to her by the store's owner Mary Price Dunbar.

For Anne Komly of the nonprofit Catholic Book Store, the forum provided "comfort to know you're not alone ... to be able to talk directly to someone in your field." Komly's store had been located in the basement of a building owned by the archdiocese. The building was flooded during Katrina and the store's inventory destroyed. The store recently rented a trailer and is now situated across the street from it previous location. Of the booksellers in attendance, Komly said, "Some were worse, and some were better, and some offered suggestions -- but we realized that we weren't that bad off [when compared to others]."

"I thought it was ... worthwhile to pull people together from the local region," said Tom Lowenburg, whose home and store, Octavia Books in New Orleans, came through Katrina intact, save for some minor damage to his bookstore's building. "It gave everyone a chance to talk about their experiences, and to have everyone there at the forum was helpful and encouraging."

Despite the enormity of Katrina's devastation and the uncertainty and frustration inherent in a rebuilding process, booksellers who spoke to BTW remained positive, and a number described how surviving a disaster like Katrina only made them stronger. Each also noted how grateful they were at the outpouring of support from all over the country.

Lynn Roberts, owner of Calico's House of Books, in Diamondhead, Mississippi, returned to her store on her birthday, 10 days after Katrina, and found all the books waterlogged, the roof ripped off, mold all around, shelving destroyed, and walls split. Now, Calico's is the only new-book store open on Mississippi's Gulf Coast.

Roberts told BTW that the forum afforded the opportunity "to share stories.... You find out how strong you can be." The destruction of Katrina has also made her appreciate the little things. "Two days ago, I got a refrigerator, and I was so excited ... I never got excited about a refrigerator before. It's the little things that mean a lot now." She added, "You do stop and smell the roses."

Rich Daley of Pass Christian Books in Pass Christian, Mississippi, described the gathering as a great opportunity for area booksellers to get together, but he said that the devastation caused by Katrina has made for a "surreal situation. A half block to the south of me there's nothing. It's almost like time is standing still."

Pass Christian was completely destroyed during Katrina. "You go three hundred feet and enter a war zone. Our store is non-existent," he said and noted that after the hurricane he scoured the spot where the store had once stood and looked for any remnant of Pass Christian Books. He found nothing. "Not even a paperclip. I just wanted to find something that said, 'I put four years in here.'"

For Daley, like so many other Gulf Coast booksellers, there's only one possible solution. "We're going to rebuild," he said. But he noted that "it's a waiting game," because the infrastructure has yet to catch up. "We're still waiting for the elevation requirements -- it used to be eight feet about sea level to get flood insurance. Now it might be 21 feet. So I don't know where I can situate the store."

Joe DiSalvo of Faulkner House Books in New Orleans said it was nice to meet ABA staff and some of the Mississippi booksellers that he had not met before. DiSalvo's bookstore is located in the French Quarter, and it suffered roof damage during the storm. "The roof is still leaking," he said, but the store is operational, though the area has been much quieter than usual since Katrina.

"I'm dependent on visitors, and there's not a lot.... People are not traveling to New Orleans and a lot of the hotels were filled with FEMA workers and FEMA-supported people who lost their homes," DiSalvo said. "The jazz festival is coming the last week of April ... so that should bring a huge influx of people. It's going to be touch and go for the next year or two, and I think it will take four or five years to get back."

Beaucoup Books' Dunbar told BTW that there was a discussion at the forum regarding the possibility of creating a disaster handbook, which would detail how to deal with emergencies -- "what things to take with you [during an evacuation], how to deal with insurance, basically how to deal with the aftermath," Dunbar said.

Beaucoup Books, which is located uptown on Magazine Street, suffered little damage during the hurricane, though it did close temporarily and then reopen on November 17. "We're one of the lucky ones," she said.

Among other topics of discussion at the New Orleans forum were the Above the Treeline inventory management software and the Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Agreement.

Many of the booksellers who spoke to BTW noted how thankful they were for their colleagues' support and for the aid provided by the Bookseller Relief Fund.

"I'm grateful to ABA for all their support and for the Bookseller Relief Fund," Daigre said. "Just knowing that people would open their hearts like that. That's what helped us get through."

And Lowenberg said the booksellers at the forum provided inspiration to all. "I find it encouraging ... that some of the booksellers who were wiped out are coming back. They believe in what they do, as we all do. They're committed to bookselling and the role we play in the community. People shared their stories -- some were humorous and some had a sad angle, but no one was saying they were giving in. They wanted to be around to be a part of what happened next." --David Grogan [2]