Louisville: Where People Want to Stay for a Spell

Lou-ah-vul, Looieville, Lewisville, Louisville. . . .
Everyone in Possibility City knows there are lots of different ways to spell and say Louisville, so it should come as no surprise that this city is home to a couple of the nation’s preeminent bibliophiles (and yes, we looked up both those words in a dictionary), as well as some pretty impressive institutions dedicated to literacy.

First, The Library Journal, the country’s top library publication, has awarded Louisville Free Public Library Director Craig Buthod its Librarian of the Year Award for 2010. The award was presented to Buthod in Boston as part of the annual American Library Association Conference. Buthod, nominated by a number of his peers nationwide, is also featured in a cover story in the January issue of Library Journal.

Sharon Darling, the founder of the National Center for Family Literacy, is known far and wide, and is credited with starting the family literacy movement in the United States. Her recognitions include the National Humanities Medal and the the Albert Schweitzer Prize for Humanitarianism, and she’s been featured on the Arts & Entertainment series, Biography.

NCFL, which is also headquartered right here in Louisville, is credited with pioneering family literacy models and approaches that improve the lives of America’s most at-risk children and families. The organization’s work is frequently cited by the media and academics for its innovative approaches and groundbreaking results.

And last, Jefferson County Public Schools was recently selected as one of only five school systems in the country to receive a $600,000 grant to implement the Toyota Family Literacy Program (TFLP), which provides language and literacy skills for Hispanic and other immigrant families. You can read all about the program and its impressive history by clicking here.

And that, as they say, is all she wrote

Mother Nature Proves Anything’s Possible in Louisville

Three Natural Disasters in One Year
Yet again, resilient Friend of Lou, our fine city has been victimized from above.

A record-breaking torrent of rain (over 6 inches in 75 extremely wet minutes) arrived and disappeared last Tuesday, leading to flash flooding, stranded motorists, and power-outages for thousands.

Louisvillians, as always, rallied to the cause. Most of the obvious damage has now been cleaned up, but deeper damage to some of the city’s key institutions — principally the Louisville Free Public Library — remains.

From international bloggers like BoingBoing (ranked by Technorati.com as the most popular blog in the world) to Twitterers to The Library Society of the World, people from all over are coming together to help restore over $5M of lost resources.

You can donate to the Library Foundation by getting in touch with them directly:

The Library Foundation, Attn.: Flood
301 York St., Louisville, KY 40203 | (502) 574.1709

Or you can participate in online efforts by clicking here.

In addition, help spread the word by getting friends, family, and meteorologists to sign up for Possibility Citification. The more folks we have in the Friend of Lou network, the greater our ability to share information and create awareness, both now and in the future.

Joining the Friend of Lou Network
You need only click here for tips on how to sign people up. Or you can share this blog post with someone special.

Wet T-Shirt Contest
In our ongoing effort to register 20,000 Friends of Lou by September 30, here’s a good recruitment tip:

Go to the Possibility City Store and get yourself a LouCanDo t-shirt. Next time it rains (and that probably won’t be too long), put it on and head outside without an umbrella.

When people ask, “Are you crazy?” reply — “Yes, totally. Absolutely. About Louisville.” Then hand them a copy of the Friend of Lou Code of Conduct or an FOL contact card.