From staff reports

LEWISTON – The Lewiston Public Library is participating in “Read for Relief” as a means of outreach to Hurricane Katrina survivors in the Gulf Coast area.

As such, Library Director Rick Speer is inviting residents to donate any new or lightly used books for children and paperbacks for adults for distribution at refugee centers in the South.

“Many of our fellow Americans are at a loss for just about everything right now, and libraries across the state are joining together to send books in hopes of providing a moment of peace and comfort for individuals of all ages,” Speer said in a prepared statement.

Staff at the Lewiston Public Library will collect books through Thursday, Sept. 22, at which time they will be packed and sent south. For additional information, people may contact the library at 784-0135 or TTY, 784-3123.

Maine Maritime welcomes students

CASTINE – Maine Maritime Academy will accept college students who have been displaced by Hurricane Katrina.

The college is welcoming inquiries from students attending colleges and universities in the area that are no longer able to offer academic instruction due to the aftermath of the hurricane. Students will be accepted on a tuition-free basis as non-degree participants in any programs offered by the college.

Classes started Aug. 29, so interested students need to contact the school as soon as possible and expect a great deal of catching up in the coming weeks, said Dr. John Barlow, vice president for academic affairs and academic dean.

“It is our hope that our programs will help to put some students back on track academically and ease the impact of this tragedy for those students and their families,” he said in a prepared statement.

To apply, students may contact the Office of Admissions at Maine Maritime Academy by calling 1-800-464-6565 in Maine or 1-800-227-8465 from out of state, or on the Internet at www.mainemaritime.edu.

From the Big E to the Big Easy

Eastern States Exposition, which for six years has presented its own Mardi Gras Parade, will raise money at the Big E for disaster relief in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

Representatives from Foxwoods, sponsor of the parade, and Big E staff will walk the parade route daily accepting cash and check donations to the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund during the Big E, held in Massachusetts from Sept. 16 to Oct. 2.

Donations may also be made at the fair’s Central Information Booth inside Gate 4 and the Foxwoods location on the Avenue of States.

The last time the Big E served as a collection location for the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund was after the events of Sept. 11, 2001, which occurred three days before the fair’s opening day that year.

The Big E is the largest agricultural fair in the Northeast, held each year in West Springfield, Mass.