Donation by Messiah College’s Friends of Murray Library helps Hurricane Katrina-ravaged library rebuild collection

	Jonathan Lauer, director of Murray Library, presents a check to Peggy Gossage and Patty Furr of William Carey College in Gulfport, Miss. Click on image to download print-quality version

GRANTHAM, Pa. (Sept. 18, 2006) — The Friends of Murray Library at Messiah College donated half of the proceeds of its annual book sale to help the Gulfport, Miss. campus of William Carey College begin replacing its collection destroyed by Hurricane Katrina.  Jonathan Lauer, director of Murray Library, presented an $8,300 check to Peggy Gossage, librarian at the Gulfport campus library, and Patty Furr, director of libraries for William Carey College.  The entire Gulfport campus was devastated by Hurricane Katrina, and the library lost more than 60% of its collection.

Lauer, who delivered the check on behalf of the Friends of Murray Library, said of the librarians at William Carey College, “Their gratitude for our gift exceeded its ability to make a dent in the magnitude of their challenge. As many have already said, one must see the devastation on the Gulf Coast first hand to begin to comprehend it.”             

Messiah College, in addition to this donation to William Carey College, has responded to the devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina in a number of ways.  Students and employees took several college-sponsored service trips to aid in clean-up and rebuilding, a donation of $19,000 was made to Mennonite Disaster Service, and 250 health kits were assembled and shipped to Louisiana. 

Messiah College, a private Christian college of the liberal and applied arts and sciences, enrolls more than 2,800 undergraduate students in 50 majors. Established in 1909, the primary campus is located in Grantham, Pa., near the state capital of Harrisburg. A satellite campus affiliated with Temple University is located in Philadelphia.