The Gift of Giving

The gift-giving season arrived a little late for A. P.Tureaud Elementary in New Orleans. The school, damaged by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, received more than 450 books in January, thanks to Maria Falgoust, cofounder of the Desk Set, a New York-based social group for librarians.

“The kids were very grateful, and when they saw the books their eyes lit up and they started browsing through them immediately,” says Bill Falgoust, Maria’s father.

Born and raised in New Orleans, Falgoust was inspired by her parents, Bill and Donna, who still live in the city, and decided in mid-December to reach out to the school, which only reopened in January 2007 after being flooded. Located in an area devastated by the 2005 hurricanes, A. P.Tureaud is across the street from still-vacant homes and a burned-out church just a few doors down. “Like many neighborhoods throughout the city, the neighborhood is still obviously struggling,” says Falgoust, who posted a message on the Desk Set mailing list, as well as several online library school bulletin boards, urging colleagues and friends to purchase books for the school from a wish list she created on Amazon.com

It didn’t take long for the word to spread—and in no time, people from as far away as Vancouver, British Columbia, Vermont, California, and Michigan started buying items on the list. “A lot of people don’t realize that the city still needs a lot of help,” says Falgoust. “By sending the books, it not only might turn some kids on to reading, but it might let the teachers know that people want them to succeed—and that they care about them and haven’t forgotten them.” The Desk Set, cofounded with fellow librarian Sarah Murphy, has more than 200 members.