Since visiting New Orleans last month and rekindling my connection with that beleagured yet magnetic city, I have been more attuned to news of the city’s reconstruction. In yesterday’s Boston Sunday Globe I was heartened by a story about five Harvard students working to restore the neghborhood of Broadmoore, in the center of the city.
Repeatedly while the American Library Association took place in New Orleans, residents praised librarians for being brave enough to return to the city and hold our conference there. We were greeted, thanked, even hailed by some as heroes. While I’m not denying that holding the conference, which brought nearly 18,000 people into the city, was a wonderfully helpful thing, it truly is the people who live in New Orleans and return who are the true heroes. The ones who struggle to rebuild and restore the magic of this singularly unique city to what it was. Thanks to the students at Harvard for pitching in and helping out.
Read the story here.