Courtesy of the LEX18
August 2022
Kentucky author raises over $25k for flood-ravaged libraries
WHITESBURG, Ky. (LEX 18) — UPDATE: So far, the GoFundMe has raised more than $25,000.
A Kentucky author who writes books inspired by Eastern Kentucky is working on her next project: raising money for public libraries destroyed in the flooding.
When Kim Michele Richardson saw photos of the Fleming Neon Library in Whitesburg, she was heartbroken by the destruction to what she calls community lifelines. Images show the librarian Tessa Fugate-Caudill cleaning up among hundred books caked in mud.
“Just to lose that, the loss is just immeasurable,” she told LEX 18 on the phone Friday.
The Blackey Library was also damaged in the floodwaters, as well as the bookmobile. Richardson is determined to help the Letcher County library system rebuild. So this week she organized a community crowd-funding effort online.
“The amount of a coffee or something, anything will help these people and go directly 100% to the people,” she said.
Read the full story here.
