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Skriven 2005-06-02 23:33:06 av Whitehouse Press (1:3634/12.0)
Ärende: Press Release (050602c) for Thu, 2005 Jun 2
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Mrs. Bush's Remarks at the Laura Bush Foundation for America's Libraries
Award Presentation
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For Immediate Release
Office of the First Lady
June 2, 2005

Mrs. Bush's Remarks at the Laura Bush Foundation for America's Libraries
Award Presentation
Austin Community Academy High School
Chicago, Illinois



11:30 A.M. CDT

MRS. BUSH: Thank you very much, Brad, that was terrific. I really
appreciate the introduction. I want to thank everybody who has come out
today to join us. I want to thank everybody from Austin Community Academy
High School that is here. I'm especially happy that your school received
one of the grants from the Laura Bush Foundation. I also want to
congratulate Chicago High School for Agriculture Science. DuSable High
School and Ryerson Elementary School, congratulations to you, as well, for
receiving the Laura Bush Foundation grants.

The Laura Bush Foundation has my name on it, but the hard work is done by
the Executive Director, Beth Ann Bryan. Beth Ann, thank you very much for
everything you said. (Applause.)

By the Leadership Council, which is led by Bill Marriot, and Ed and Debbie
Jannotta who are here with us today or here from Chicago, and they also are
very -- have done a lot of work to make sure we have the money so we can
give the grants. And then by the grant readers, like Dr. Junko Yokota.
Thank you very much, Dr. Yokota, for working so hard to pick these schools
that were picked in the Chicago area, as well as the other schools around
the country. They are the ones, that committee -- the Committee of Library
Experts -- librarians, and children's literature experts, are the ones who
have to make the choices among so many worthy applicants.

The need is so great, as Beth Ann mentioned to you. The very first year of
grants we just put out through the American Library Association that -- we
were going to give these grants to school libraries, specifically to school
libraries, and we got more than 6,000 applications. And that was with no
advertising or anything about the grants. And I think that number really
shows how desperate school libraries are for materials, and how important
it is for people in every community to make sure their school libraries are
stocked with great books so that children really have the chance to read.

All of the efforts of the Leadership Council and experts show -- allow the
Foundation to give these awards, and I'm really grateful to everybody
involved. Thank you all very much.

I also appreciate Michael Scott. Thank you for telling your story about how
a book changed your life. Thank you for everything you do as President of
the Board of Education. It's a very, very difficult job. It's a thankless
job in many ways, but you're doing a terrific job, and I appreciate that.

And of course, to Dr. Anthony Scott, the Principal of this school, thank
you for welcoming us here and thank you for your good work for your
students.

I first fell in love with books when I was a child in Midland, Texas. My
mother used to take me to the Midland County Public Library, which was in
the basement of the courthouse in the center of the little town I grew up
in. And we'd check out books, and then we would spend hours reading with
each other. I was an only child, but I soon found that I didn't have to be
lonely as long as I had a book in my hand.

Today's children have many more ways to entertain themselves, with
television and video games, but reading still provides better stimulation
for the brain. Books can be a source of entertainment, they can be a source
of knowledge, and they can be a source of inspiration. And they're
essential for academic success.

A study from the Department of Education showed that the more books
children have in their homes, the more successful they are in school. But
of course, we know some children don't have any books in their homes, and
that makes it all the more important for school libraries and community
libraries to have well-stocked shelves. Young people should have access to
the timeless classics, as well as to new books that reflect their own
interests, their backgrounds, and their cultures.

With the grant they're receiving today, the administrators at Austin
Community Academy High School will have resources to buy new books for
their students. And I know the grants will be put to good use, because I
just spoke to students from the Mayor's Book Club. It was really fun, too.
I had a great time talking to students about their favorite books and about
what they want in their school library. And they were sure to let Ms.
Hadac.

know what kind of books they wanted.

I also know that they want a wider selection of books, that that's what the
Mayor's Book Club students want. They want to read books about sports and
sports heroes. They want to read mysteries and biographies. And their
librarian also wanted books for them in other languages so that the IB
students would have books in French and Spanish to read.

We must do everything we can possibly do to make sure that children and
teenagers read. And everyone in every community has a responsibility to
make sure their students get an excellent education. Public schools can
benefit from private sector initiatives like this Foundation, efforts that
bring together members of the community to help students in their schools.

And while most school funding comes from local and state governments, the
federal government also has to fill a need. A new federal program called
Striving Readers provides funding to school districts that use
research-based methods to teach reading to high school- and middle
school-age students to help them improve their reading skills.

I visited several schools that are using these kinds of programs, supported
by Striving Readers, and teachers tell me that students are improving their
reading ability by two, three and sometimes four grade levels in one year.
These students once had little hope of academic success because they'd
gotten all the way to junior high or high school without knowing how to
read. But now they have really good grades, and they have more
opportunities for the future, because they have stronger reading skills.

Great credit goes to the teachers who are dedicated to making sure that all
of their students read well, to the librarians who make important
contributions by introducing children to the pleasures of reading, and to
the techniques of research. And the teachers, librarians and books at
Austin Community High School are vital resources for students at every
reading level.

Thank you every one of you for treasuring books and for valuing education.
And congratulations to all the schools who are receiving grants from the
Laura Bush Foundation. Thank you all and congratulations. (Applause.)

END 11:38 A.M. CDT.
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