Hancock County Library
Our service learning projects at the library turned out really well. The first day we met the women we would be working with for the next two days and got a tour of the library and the area. The image that stands out the most from driving around and seeing the devastation that is still prominent were several lots of land that only had front stairs remaining on them. The waterfront area had several houses that you could see right through and many people only had trees on their front lawn left. Some people placed chairs and a house sign around trees on the lawn as a marking that someone did live there and that lawn used to be a home. Another image that stuck was a church that the whole front was missing and on the back wall there was an arrow and times for Sunday services spray painted. We also passed what used to be a bank and the only recognizable trace was the vault. Seeing a video of pictures of neighborhoods before Katrina and then going on a bus tour to see how little is left or rebuilt two years later was exactly what we needed to experience before conducting our oral histories the following day.
Although apprehensive at first, the oral histories were my favorite part of the three days we spent at the library. Being able to talk with three different people who lived through the storm in various conditions and the challenges they still face today was a lucky experience on both sides because we were able to hear first hand accounts and the were able to tell their story and let their side be known when a common feeling was that their area was somewhat neglected in terms of media coverage. The interviews were a lot of fun and everyone wanted to share with each other the stories we heard because each group got to talk with people with incredible stories that impacted all of us. It was surprising how well the interviews went because our group was anticipating them to be short with lots of awkward pauses but listening to what we were hearing it was hard not to ask a million questions and have them elaborate on their feelings before the storm, the actual events the day of, and how they have dealt with moving past the devastation.
It was great to spend a significant amount of time at the library to learn about the people who work there lives and see everything they have done as a community to survive. We got to see first hand how important the library is by observing the people who come in and out throughout the day and how many people came for the movie screening on Thursday evening. The library has played an integral part of recovery for the town and we were fortunate to volunteer and help them out.