In its 2007 round of grants, First Lady Laura Bush’s foundation is awarding nearly $1.3 million to 263 school libraries to expand their book collections. Mrs. Bush made the announcement May 30 at the 104-year-old P.S. 188 Island School on Manhattan’s Lower East Side, accompanied by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and city schools Chancellor Joel Klein.
The year’s awards will benefit more than 129,800 students in 234 public schools, 11 charter schools, 14 private schools, and four alternative schools. Recipients are located in 48 states plus the District of Columbia; an additional award went to Spangdahlem Elementary School, which serves 463 children of military personnel at Spangdahlem Air Base in Germany.
“What all of these schools have in common are teachers and principals and librarians who encourage students’ love of books,” observed Mrs. Bush. “We know that many children don’t have books in their homes, which makes it even more important for them to have access to a well-stocked school library.”
Before the announcement, the dignitaries toured the Island School’s newly remodeled library, where they enjoyed an improvised puppet show given by the school’s librarian, Lewis Lahana.
Since 2002, the Laura Bush Foundation for America’s Libraries has given out $4.3 million in grants to 897 schools nationwide.
Posted June 1, 2007.