Caroline Kennedy shares her mother's favorite poems with Harlem community

Contact: Deborah Davis


312-280-2148


OR


Tracy Naden


212-445-8214

ALA News Release


For Immediate Release


December 12, 2001

Caroline Kennedy shares her mother's favorite poems with Harlem community

Reads from "The Best-Loved Poems of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis"

Hoping to share her passion for poetry and her love of the library, Caroline Kennedy visited the Countee Cullen branch of the New York Public Library today, reading to students and community members from her new book "The Best-Loved Poems of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis."

"One of the greatest gifts my brother and I received from my mother was her love of literature and language," said Kennedy in her remarks to the audience. "With their boundless resources, libraries open the doors to these worlds and so many others. I urge young and old alike to embrace all that libraries have to offer."

"The Best-Loved Poems of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis" consists of works that Jacqueline Kennedy read to Caroline and her brother John throughout their childhood, as well as several original poems written by their mother.

The poetry reading was hosted by the American Library Association (ALA) and the New York Public Library as part of the ALA's five-year educational initiative, @ your library™, which is encouraging America to discover - and re-discover - the diversity of resources offered at today's libraries. The @ your library campaign is designed to communicate the value of libraries and librarians in the 21st century and showcase the important role they play in communities across the country.