The Katrina Project is an effort to raise money and awareness to help rebuild the New Orleans Public Library system. For every donation of $8.95 given online, students add a "book brick" to a symbolic levee being constructed across from the main library on campus. The Levee of Life has become a site for discussion and dialogue ...The Katrina Project hopes to raise 10,000 pledges (the equivalent of nearly $90,000) to be given entirely to the New Orleans Public Library Foundation, a 501c(3) dedicated to supporting and rebuilding the NOPL.

The tragedy of Katrina will only be compounded if we neglect the national debate over how best to rebuild the Gulf Coast and more generally, how to alleviate poverty and inequality in America. We hope that this campaign and the imagery of the Levee for Life will play some role in shaping and informing this dialogue.

A very cool idea, and kudos to the students who are spearheading this. If blog readers can contribute a few bucks, all the better.