Dear Colleagues: FYI--
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http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2002/06/print/20020604-12.html
Opening Remarks by Mrs. Bush at White House Conference on School Libraries
As delivered.
Welcome to the White House Conference on School Libraries. One of Americas
greatest advocates for reading and books is here with me today my
mother-in-law, Barbara Bush.
Several distinguished members from Congress are here
Senator Ted Kennedy;
Senator Arlen Specter;
Congressman Ralph Regula; and
Senator Jack Reed.
Welcome.
When I was a child, one of my most prized possessions was my library card
from the Midland Public Library. I am fortunate that my mother took me to
get my library card at an early age. In fact, that was the first card I
carried in my wallet, and I used it throughout my childhood to borrow
books from what seemed to me to be a vast and inexhaustible collection.
That card was my passport to visit a little house on the prairie, sail
across the ocean on a whaling ship, or travel back in time. These
childhood adventures are not mine alone, they belong to any child who has
the chance to browse a librarys bookshelves.
Libraries allow children to ask questions about the world and find the
answers. And the wonderful thing is that once a child learns to use a
library, the doors to learning are always open.
In his essay titled, "In Defense of the Book," William H. Gass writes:
"The library is meant to satisfy the curiosity of the curious provide a
place for the lonely where they may enjoy the companionship and warmth of
the word. (The library) supplies handbooks for the handy, novels for
insomniacs, scholarship for the scholarly, and makes available works of
literature to those people they will eventually haunt so successfully."
Todays discussion is all about librarie, sschool libraries, community
libraries places that are designed to enrich lives and learning.
I want to welcome our guest speakers today
Dr. Vartan Gregorian, president of the Carnegie Corporation of New York.
Chris DeVita, president of Wallace-Readers Digest Funds;
Dr. Susan Neuman, assistant secretary for elementary and secondary
education at the U.S. Department of Education;
Dr. Keith Curry Lance, director of the Library Research Service and one of
the respected authors of the Colorado studies on libraries.
Dr. Gary Hartzell, professor of educational administration at the
University of Nebraska at Omaha;
Dr. Steven R. Wisely who has served as superintendent of Medford School
District in Medford, Oregon, for 17 years;
Dr. Kathleen D. Smith, principal of Cherry Creek High School in Greenwood
Village, Colorado; and
Faye Kimsey-Pharr, principal of Lakeside Academy of Math, Science, and
Technology in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
Dr. Robert Martin, the director of the Institute of Museum and Library
Services, or IMLS, has very kindly agreed to serve as our moderator.
The IMLS is an independent federal agency that supports all types of
museums and libraries, including public, academic, school, research and
archives. IMLS grants help museums and libraries expand their collections
and services, so millions of Americans can enjoy their exhibits and
resources.
Dr. Martin is an eloquent speaker when it comes to the topic of libraries.
At a House Subcommittee hearing on education, he said, Americas libraries
are the fruits of a great democracy. They exist because we believe that
memory and truth are important They exist because we believe that
information and knowledge are not the exclusive domain of a certain type
or class of person but rather the province of all who seek to learn. A
democratic society holds these institutions in high regard.
Ladies and gentlemen, Dr. Robert Martin.
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