One thing I haven't written much about is the response of my employer. Barnes and Noble has completely exceeded any expectation I had of how they would respond. There are 300 booksellers affected by the hurricane and 13 stores, including the college stores and B. Daltons.

They've put together teams of people to deal with the crisis. And they're doing an amazing job. Everyone of those 300 booksellers is getting paid indefinitely. If they needed more money immediately, it was provided. They have people trying to locate housing for them. They have trucks of supplies heading here, not only for the booksellers but for other people in the affected areas.

The uppermost people in the company are in constant contact with people in the local area.

I personally made three suggestions to my Regional Director and every one of them was put into place within hours, one of them ten minutes after I emailed her the suggestion.

I am so grateful to have such an amazing employer and will be personally letting many of them know this at the appropriate time, once we're past the worst of the crisis.

If you know anyone who is one of these booksellers who hasn't been in contact with the company yet, have them call 1-800-799-5335 immediately.