FOR IMMEDIATE
RELEASE
June 1, 2006
Press Contacts
202-653-4632
Eileen Maxwell, emaxwell@imls.gov
Mamie Bittner, mbittner@imls.gov
Laura
Bush Announces $1.5 Million in Aid from
Institute of Museum and Library Services
To
Help Beleaguered Museums and Libraries in Federally Declared
Disaster Areas
New Orleans—At a
conference yesterday on the Tulane University campus,
First Lady Laura Bush announced
more aid from the federal Institute of Museum and Library
Services to help libraries and museums in major disaster
areas recover. The Institute, an independent United States
government agency, is the primary source of federal support
for the nation’s 122,000 libraries and 17,500 museums.
“In March, the Institute of Museum
and Library Services announced more than $670,000 in grants
to help seven museums recover their collections and re-open
to the public,” said Mrs. Bush. “And today,
I’m happy to announce that the Institute is reserving
$1.5 million of the grant money it will award over the
next year for projects related to the Gulf Coast and other
areas that have suffered major disasters.”
Laura Bush made the announcement during
her keynote address for “Rebirth: People, Places
and Culture in New Orleans,” a conference examining
the role New Orleans’ cultural legacy will play
in the city’s recovery from Hurricane Katrina. Cosponsored
by Tulane University and the National Trust for Historic
Preservation and held from May 30 to June 1, the conference
has brought approximately 200 national, state, and local
decision makers and regional preservation and higher education
communities together to energize and elevate the discussion
of the important role arts and culture play in the reconstruction
efforts following Hurricane Katrina. Click
here for details on the additional funding.
The Institute of Museum and Library Services,
along with the Andrew Mellon Foundation, the Carnegie
Corp. of New York, the National Endowment for the Humanities,
the National Endowment for the Arts and the President’s
Committee on the Arts provided support for the conference.
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