The Cameron Parish Library was chosen as a recipient of the Witness to Change: Community Conversations on Coastal Impacts grant sponsored by Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities

The first discussion on Tuesday, Feb. 15, at 6 p.m., will be hosted by Dr. Craig E. Colten Professor Emeritus from LSU and will be on the book The Water Knife by Paolo Bacigalupi. You can pick up or schedule your delivery for a free copy of this book so you can really jump into this talk! https://us06web.zoom.us/j/88694729162?pwd=U2RaMEZRT255YXl5VFRrKzF1dkpoZz09

Book Overview

Water is power. In the near future, the Colorado River has dwindled to a trickle. Detective, assassin, and spy, Angel Velasquez “cuts” water for the Southern Nevada Water Authority, ensuring that its lush arcology developments can bloom in Las Vegas. When rumors of a game-changing water source surface in Phoenix, Angel is sent south, hunting for answers that seem to evaporate as the heat index soars and the landscape becomes more and more oppressive.

There, he encounters Lucy Monroe, a hardened journalist with her own agenda, and Maria Villarosa, a young Texas migrant, who dreams of escaping north. As bodies begin to pile up, the three find themselves pawns in a game far bigger and more corrupt than they could have imagined, and when water is more valuable than gold, alliances shift like sand, and the only truth in the desert is that someone will have to bleed if anyone hopes to drink.

Grant Overview

“Witness to Change: Conversations on Coastal Impacts” is a new adult reading and discussion series available to Louisiana public libraries and community partners through the LEH’s Coastal Impacts initiative, funded by BHP. The series incorporates history, memoir, and fiction and is intended to engage members of the general public in conversations on the beauty of and challenges faced by coastal communities.

Sessions are intended to spark dialogue around issues and themes supported by the texts, including but not limited to:

• what makes a place a home
• experiences of flooding
• hurricanes
• family roots and connection to place
• land loss and dislocation
• scarcity and adaptation
• risk and relocation.