Director, Technical Services at Tulane Libraries
When Hurricane Katrina struck, Donna Capelle Cook and her husband were on vacation in South Carolina. The hardest part, she recalls, was “trying to locate neighbors to find out how our home faired.” They were fortunate — no wind or tree damage — and returned to New Orleans in late September.
What she saw at Howard-Tilton Memorial Library left a lasting impression. “The pile of debris in front of the library after the materials were pulled from the flooded basement. The workers in their white hazmat suits. The air tubes drying out the building. The generators humming out back.”
The city around her felt surreal. “Men with automatic rifles on the Algiers/Canal ferry was not a sight we’d experienced before. Armored vehicles on our streets. Red Cross delivering dinners. Picking up ice bags from kind volunteers. Tasting our first MREs.” In November 2005, she even found a moment of normalcy, celebrating her husband’s 45th birthday at Muriel’s because it was open.
At work, Donna found purpose. “Being able to work gave us a brief respite from the trauma facing us in our personal lives.” But the challenges were immense. Several staff members couldn’t face returning and left Tulane. Hiring was difficult, and even healthcare access in the city was strained.
Through the chaos, acts of kindness stood out. The American Library Association held its annual conference in New Orleans in June 2006, and Tulane’s library staff formed a “Demco Book Cart Drill Team” — ten people, from an associate dean to a student’s mother — who practiced in the dim, un-air-conditioned basement. “We hooked up garage fans to keep us cool and added a work floor light for additional lighting. We performed our routine for the library staff in the semi-dark basement. Those of us who are still here remember this with smiles.”
Her takeaway from that time is simple but powerful: “It’s overwhelming what happened to others. Just being there to listen sometimes is all you can offer.” And she’ll never forget the support she felt. “There was such love and support from colleagues and strangers that I will never forget.”
