Remarks by First Lady Laura Bush
At the 2006 American Library Association Conference
Ernest N. Morial Convention Center
New Orleans, Louisiana
Thank you, Caitlyn, for your really wonderful
words about librarians. I don't know if school librarians
get thanked enough. And so thank you for letting them
know how important they are to your library, to your
life, and also how important they are to all your success.
So congratulations to you.
I also want to acknowledge Leslie Berger, the ALA
President-elect. Thank you very much, Leslie, for all
the work you're going to do and have already done. I
think Lieutenant Governor Mitch Landrieu and Cheryl,
his wife, are here. Thank you all very much for joining
us today. Seletha Nagin, wife of Mayor Ray Nagin has
joined us. Seletha, thank you for coming. And Dick Robinson,
the President and CEO of Scholastic. Scholastic has
been such a huge partner in school libraries around
our country -- also with the Texas Book Festival and
the National Book Festival, and I want to thank you
very much for that, Dick. Anne Radice, the Director
of the IMLS is here, the Institute of Museum and Library
Services, the federal agency. Anne, thank you for joining
us. And also out in this crowd are members of the Laura
Bush Foundation Library Board -- the library experts,
the librarians who are the ones that read the grants
and choose the schools that get a Laura Bush grant.
Also, I hope in this crowd, but I haven't seen them
yet, are a group of Middle Eastern and North African
librarians. (Applause.) Thank you all very much for
coming. They're here in the United States. Some of you
may have hosted them in your home cities over the last
week. They're here with the State Department's Middle
East Partnership Initiative, and they've visited libraries
all over our country to see what American libraries
are like. So welcome, and welcome to the United States.
(Applause.)
I'm delighted to be here with all of you for this
year's conference of the American Library Association.
I've seen the great work that ALA members are doing
in the many libraries I've visited around our country.
In public libraries, in school libraries, through ESL
instruction and literacy programs, librarians are encouraging
lifelong lovers of reading. And their encouragement
is taking increasingly innovative forms.
Earlier this month, I was in Guadalupe, Arizona, to
see "Tomás and the Library Lady," a
play based on Pat Mora's book about Tomás Rivera
and how his early love of learning was nourished by
an Iowa librarian. The play is staged throughout the
Maricopa County Library District, through a partnership
between Childsplay, a local Arizona theater company,
and the library district, with funding from the National
Endowment for the Arts and local donors. Thanks to the
dedication of the Maricopa County Youth Services Coordinator,
Tim Wadham, almost 72,000 Arizona students have seen
the play, and there are plans for "Tomás
and the Library Lady" to begin playing in libraries
around the country next year.
"Tomás the Library Lady" is an example
of how librarians are collaborating with community groups,
government institutions, corporations and local philanthropies
to extend the resources and reach of libraries, and
to get the message out to the public, and especially
to children, about the importance of libraries and reading.
Thanks to each and every one of you for your service
in your communities. And thanks to the ALA leadership
for your commitment to the New Orleans community. ALA
is the first organization to hold a major convention
in this city since last summer's hurricanes, and this
gathering is an important step in New Orleans' rebirth
as a convention destination, which is vital to this
area's long-term economic recovery.
Today I'm happy to join you as you discuss another
important part of Gulf Coast recovery -- perhaps the
most important part -- and that is the rebuilding of
schools. Schools are at the heart of Gulf Coast recovery.
Until there are schools for children, families won't
return home. And for many children who stayed on the
Gulf Coast after losing their homes and all their possessions,
their school is their only comfort left.
The task of rebuilding these schools is unprecedented
in its difficulty and scope. Never have state school
officials and school superintendents had to restore
entire school districts as fast as they can without
a tax base to finance the reconstruction. The work of
rebuilding schools may be daunting, but it's absolutely
essential. And as all of us know, each of these new
schools must have a new school library.
In the wake of the hurricanes, school officials and
librarians have shown extraordinary determination. I've
seen this determination at nearby Chalmette High School
in St. Bernard Parish. Before Katrina, Chalmette's library
had an impressive collection of almost 29,000 volumes.
The school was especially proud of its collection of
Life magazines, which dated back to the very first issues
in the late '30s, and which students used as primary
sources to study the history of the 20th century. But
when Katrina struck, every book and every magazine was
lost to eight feet of water. Chalmette High School had
been a designated evacuation center, and amid the surging
floodwaters of Katrina, people swam or took boats to
the second floor of the school. Chalmette's first floor
was completely flooded, and the second floor was used
as a shelter for almost a week.
But the storm couldn't touch Chalmette's community
spirit. The superintendent of St. Bernard Parish schools,
Doris Voitier, went right to work so Chalmette students
could return to their school. Doris had the second floor
of Chalmette High School rebuilt and ready for students
by November. And not just high school students, Chalmette
reopened as a K-12 school, taking in all the students
from St. Bernard Parish that had returned. Some of Chalmette's
students returned to St. Bernard Parish even before
their parents did, because they were so eager to be
back in their school, and to graduate with their class.
Last month, I saw the results of Doris's hard work
when I stood in Chalmette's beautiful new library, which
was filled with excited students and lined with brand
new shelves awaiting new library books. Doris Voitier
is here with us today. Is Doris out there? Oh, here
she is, right here on the very front row. (Applause.)
Let me tell you, too, that Doris didn't wait till she
heard from FEMA. She just billed FEMA after she rebuilt
her school. (Laughter and applause.)
Making sure librarians can restock these new shelves
is the goal of the Laura Bush Foundation's Gulf Coast
School Library Recovery Initiative. In 2001, the Laura
Bush Foundation for America's Libraries was established
to help school libraries expand their collections. Over
the last five years, the Foundation has awarded 634
grants, totaling more than $3 million to schools in
49 states.
Shortly after last summer's hurricanes, the leadership
council of the Foundation gathered for what was to be
the last meeting. The council had reached the fundraising
goal for its endowment and was ready to disband. But
at that meeting, the council decided to continue raising
money for a special fund to help schools in the Gulf
Coast region.
So the Gulf Coast School Library Recovery Initiative
was established, which will help schools damaged by
the hurricanes rebuild their libraries' book and materials
collections.
And the task is huge. You saw some of it in the video.
According to the U.S. Department of Education, 1,121
private and public schools in the Gulf Coast region
were damaged or destroyed. And as many of you know,
the basic cost of building a book collection for an
elementary school library is about $50,000. And the
cost for a good basic secondary school library is usually
over $100,000.
As schools rebuild, they are eager to have these resources
so they can restock their libraries. In fact, within
a month of announcing the initiative, 24 schools had
applied for grants. And last month, the Laura Bush Foundation
awarded its first round of grants, totaling $500,000
to ten schools in Louisiana and Mississippi.
I know ALA shares this commitment to rebuilding Gulf
Coast libraries. ALA members have raised more than $300,000
to help libraries affected by the storms restore their
materials collections. And during this conference, many
ALA members are giving their time and energy to local
libraries left understaffed by the hurricanes.
Joining these efforts are major corporations, private
foundations and individuals from around the country.
During this conference, you've heard of the generosity
of Scholastic, of Dollar General, of the Bill &
Melinda Gates Foundation, and the Bush-Clinton Katrina
Fund.
Earlier, I told you about Chalmette's lost collection
of Life magazines. What I didn't mention was that last
month when I visited Chalmette to announce the school
libraries grant, the CEO of Time Warner, Ann Moore,
joined me. Ann presented Chalmette with the complete
collection of Life magazines, along with digital copies
and historic Life photos. (Applause.)
Corporations are helping, and I've found that they're
very happy to help. So I urge you to reach out to corporations
in your communities and ask them for help with your
own libraries.
Federal institutions, too, are doing their part. The
Institute of Museum and Library Services is dedicating
$1 million in grants for library projects on the Gulf
Coast, and is reserving $500,000 to help staff temporary
library facilities in Gulf Coast communities.
Restoring libraries on the Gulf Coast will be a long-term
endeavor, requiring well-trained librarians for years
to come. And the work of recruiting and educating the
next generation of librarians here on the Gulf Coast
and throughout our country must start now.
So today, I'm happy to announce that the IMLS Librarians
for the 21st Century program is awarding more than $20
million to support almost 3,900 library science students
at 35 universities. (Applause.) With these grants, IMLS
is ensuring that librarians will have the training they
need to keep libraries and education at the center of
community life.
When Hurricanes Katrina and Rita roared through the
Gulf Coast, they brought images of destruction that
we're unaccustomed to seeing in the United States. But
they also brought images we've come to expect in America.
In the faces of the victims, we saw resilience and courage.
In the rescue workers and volunteers, we saw generosity
and self-sacrifice. And we see endurance and hope in
every act of rebuilding, especially of schools -- schools
like Second Street Elementary School in Bay St. Louis,
Mississippi.
Before Katrina hit Second Street Elementary School,
the librarian, Marianne Higginbotham, had always taught
her 4th and 5th graders how to take good care of their
library books. So as the hurricanes bore down on their
homes, many of these children took Marianne's lessons
to heart. During the evacuation, most of their possessions
were left behind, and ultimately lost. But as they fled,
these kids made sure to save their library books. (Laughter
and applause.) Most of the children's homes were destroyed,
and for months, some of them moved from evacuation shelters
to relatives' homes to FEMA trailers -- all the while
safeguarding their library books. When they returned
to school in November, Marianne said some of the children
were afraid they would have a big fine. (Laughter.)
But the students treasured those books, and they were
happy they'd saved them. And when the rescued volumes
were presented to Marianne, the children told her proudly,
"I brought your book back."
These books are the beginning of Marianne's new collection,
and now with the help of a grant, she'll add many more
new books to her reconstructed library.
With the help of private foundations -- companies
like Scholastic and Time Warner, federal institutions,
and organizations like the ALA -- more books will be
brought back to school libraries throughout this region,
and good schools will help bring families back to the
Gulf Coast.
Thank you for your commitment to Gulf Coast libraries,
and thank you for serving your communities and our country
every day. Thank you all very much. (Applause.)