Greetings LIS education colleagues,
I am writing to bring you some good news
from Tuscaloosa, Alabama. The entire faculty, staff, and
current student body of the School of Library and Information
Studies at The University of Alabama survived the storms that
ravaged our region on April 27th. Today I am able
to account for every single student enrolled in MLIS and MFA
programs for Spring semester; it was a great boost to see the
last member of our student body check in.
Our University is back online in most
respects, and our interim and summer sessions will be held as
scheduled. We are admitting students to distance, on-campus,
and regional program options and our campus is ready to
receive incoming students, visitors, and summer camps. Many of
our students, faculty, and staff are housing displaced
students and others who are without homes, volunteering to
feed and provide needed items for those whose personal effects
were lost, serving as errand runners for those who lost their
vehicles, and working with the public library and other
agencies to assist residents in filling out forms for
insurance, FEMA, and other programs.
We continue to make progress in digging out
and cleaning up our neighborhoods. Those affiliated with the
University suffered huge losses of real estate, vehicles, and
personal effects, but almost everyone, University-wide, has
been accounted for. Sadly, the University lost at least six
students in the tornado in Tuscaloosa.
On behalf of SLIS, our profound thanks to
all of you who sent messages and offers to assist us. You
cannot imagine how much the expressions of your concern lift
our spirits.
Elizabeth Aversa
Professor & Director
