By Jeanne Mejeur
Members of the Legislative Research Librarians (LRL) staff section plan to make a difference to the local community when they gather in Baton Rouge for their fall seminar Oct. 1-3.
LRL attendees will bring books and magazines to the meeting, as well as purchase magazine subscriptions. Louisiana House legislative librarian Frances Thomas is coordinating the donations. She and LRL chair Sonia Gavin of Montana will lead a group of attendees in making the presentation at the One Stop Shop for the homeless, on Friday afternoon, Oct. 3.
The project was arranged by the legislative librarians in Louisiana, working with the Capital Area Alliance for the Homeless (CAAH), a nonprofit organization of homeless service providers dedicated to ending homelessness through direct services, affordable housing and advocacy on homeless issues. Through their provider network, including the One Stop Shop, they offer:
- Emergency shelter
- Transitional housing
- Permanent housing
- Case management
- Mental health counseling
- Substance abuse treatment
- Life skills training
- Employment and job assistance
Reading materials are an important resource for the One Stop Shop, which opened in 2011 and serves an average of about 140 clients a day. “They come in for a range of services from showers, mail service, use of a phone, use of a computer, to more specialized services like the services of an attorney and the medical clinic,” said Randy Nichols, executive director of CAAH.
Donations will include both fiction and nonfiction books, and magazines covering a range of interests, including current events, sports, hobbies, and religious or inspirational issues.
The legislative librarians group seeks to make a difference in all the communities they visit. The project for last year’s seminar was a donation of quilts and children’s books to St. Luke’s Children’s Hospital in Boise, Idaho.
Jeanne Mejeur is a program principal in NCSL’s Legislative Management program and is the NCSL liaison to the Legislative Research Librarians staff section.
Email Jeanne.