Jefferson Parish Library Is Recipient
of Barnes and Noble Donation

BOOKSTORE'S REOPENING GALA YIELDS
NEEDED BOOKS FOR LIBRARY COLLECTION

As Metairie Barnes & Noble Booksellers’ Store Manager Peter McNamara and his staff planned their Reopening Gala for the evening of March 14th, they agreed that they wanted to use the festivities as an opportunity to help their community in its recovery. They decided that there would be no better way to contribute than to turn to Jefferson Parish Library to see how B & N might be of aid in helping Jefferson Parish’s library system recover and supporting its efforts in “building back better.”

Lindi Weatherford, Community Relations Manager for Barnes & Noble, contacted Jefferson Parish Library Director Lon Dickerson to tell him of plans to set up a display at the with books particularly needed by the library. Invited guests at the reopening celebration could then choose books from the display and make a donation purchase for the library. Dickerson and his staff determined the types of books most immediately needed by the citizens of Jefferson Parish – books on home repairs and construction; interior decorating and remodeling; and landscaping, gardening, and lawn care--as well as titles of regional interest.

During B & N’s gala celebration, it was announced that a portion of the proceeds from customer purchases that evening also would be donated to Jefferson Parish Library. As a result of Reopening Gala sales, Barnes & Noble donated $1,600 to the library, and an anonymous donor contributed another $400 to bring the total to $2,000.

In mid-April, Dickerson and library Collection Development representatives were asked to join Weatherford at Barnes and Noble to select books on the library’s “most wanted” list. Through the generosity of Barnes & Noble and its customers, Jefferson Parish Library was able to add 118 titles to its collection. In addition, Barnes & Noble donated three cases of Harry Potter books for children and teens.

Left to right: Librarians Debbie Troxclair and Thomas Huston of Jefferson Parish Library,
Barnes & Noble Community Relations Manager Lindi Weatherford,
and Jefferson Parish Library Director Lon Dickerson
with a selection of books purchased with the B & N donation

“We are delighted to have been able to play a role and demonstrate our support in the recovery of such a vital institution in the community, “ B & N Manager McNamara said. “Nothing is more important than the preservation of our community culture, and Jefferson Parish’s public libraries are at the very core of our Parish’s cultural quality of life.”

According to Weatherford: “This has been has been an extremely rewarding opportunity—to be able to help Jefferson Parish Library in this way as we welcomed customers back to our remodeled and improved store. And we encourage—no, we challenge—other corporate and private entities to match our contribution. In fact, we’d love to see others beat our efforts to the benefit of our Parish’s library.”

Added Library Dickerson, “We certainly want to recognize Barnes & Noble for its collaborative efforts with the library in facilitating the rebuilding of our community. There is a heavy demand for material on these topics, and additional books and multiple copies in additional libraries will help us get on with the recovery efforts.” He went on to encourage individuals and other companies to help the library’s rebuilding efforts by making cash donations to the Friends of Jefferson Public Library to match what B & N has done.

A recent view of the book shelf,
demonstrating the popularity of the donated titles

Monetary donations for the library may be made to the Friends organization and will gladly be accepted at any Jefferson Parish Library location or may be mailed to Friends of Jefferson Public Library, P.O. Box 9391, Metairie, LA 70055. Checks should be made out to “Friends of Jefferson Public Library.”

Jefferson Parish Library deeply thanks Barnes & Noble for allowing the library system to benefit from the anxiously awaited reopening of its Metairie store, and encourages the public to come to the library and take advantage of the timely additions to the library’s collection.