Laura Bush Announces School Library
Foundation, National Book Festival
First Lady Laura Bush is creating a nonprofit foundation to provide grants to help school libraries extend their collections. “My lifelong passion for books and reading began when I was a little girl,” said Mrs. Bush in her July 30 announcement of the Laura Bush Foundation for America’s Libraries. “This new foundation provides yet another opportunity to share with America’s children the magical world of books and reading.”
The Los Angeles Times reported July 31 that the foundation will be administratively housed within the Community Foundation for the National Capital Region, a Washington, D.C., organization that promotes philanthropy. Operational details, including the fundraising mechanism, are yet to be developed.
The same day, Mrs. Bush announced that she would host the first National Book Festival at the Library of Congress on September 8. Modeled after her Texas Book Festival, the event will include readings and book signings by more than 40 award-winning authors and illustrators of adult and children’s books, as well as musical performances, storytelling, panel discussions, demonstrations of illustration and new technologies, and special tours and exhibitions in the library.
Posted August 6, 2001.
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