White House Conference on School Libraries

Opening Remarks by Mrs. Bush

October 29, 2002
As Delivered

Thank you very much. And welcome to The White House Colloquium on Libraries, Museums and Lifelong Learning. I would like to welcome Dr. Bob Martin and our distinguished presenters, Dr. Jeffry Patchen, Dr. Peter Marzio and Dr. David Carr. I would also like to welcome Congressman Ralph Regula and our Librarian of Congress, Dr. Billington

And a special welcome to the 2001 recipients of the National Awards for Museum and Library Service. Would members of the following museums and libraries please stand so that we may congratulate you on your outstanding contributions to your communities and our country – the Alaska Resources Library and Information Services, the Children's Discovery Museum of San Jose, the Hancock County Library System, the Miami Museum of Science, the New England Aquarium and the Providence Public Library

Today, more of America’s finest museums and libraries will join your ranks as we present the 2002 National Awards for Museum and Library Service. We honor these museums and libraries for helping to build communities of character and a nation of lifelong learners. James Madison, our country’s fourth president, knew that great institutes of learning were essential for the expansion of liberty and the preservation of democracy. He said, “Learned institutions ought to be favorite objects of every free people. They throw that light over the public mind.” America’s libraries and museums have been lighting the way to liberty and learning since our country’s very beginning

Today, they continue to reflect the history, the culture and the very spirit of America. In big towns and small, our museums and libraries serve as stewards of our history and ideas. Through exhibits, collections and discussion, they tell our nation's stories and connect generations of Americans to one another. But museums and libraries do more than provide us with information, they engage us in learning – learning for a lifetime

Along with our homes and schools, museums and libraries provide the strongest foundation for learning in our communities. Children and adults know that when they have a question about the world, their local library is the place to go. And someone will always be there to help them find the answer – our dedicated librarians. I want to thank the museum directors and librarians here today for joining us. Your job is an important one. Museum directors and librarians educate and inform the public, and by doing so, you strengthen our great democracy

Our award recipients today have strengthened and enriched their communities by finding innovative ways to expand public access to information, to bridge the digital divide, and to make learning an esteemed life-long pursuit. These museums and libraries have broadened our children’s minds and imaginations, and they have ignited – and reignited the spark of learning in people of all ages

Our award recipients are as diverse as the cultural landscape of our great country – from Bonners Ferry, Idaho, where in a community of more than 9,000 – 8,300 have cards for the Boundary County District Library. And they use them – logging more than 73,000 visits to the library last year alone. The library has strengthened its commitment to children with monthly bookmobile visits to daycare centers and by providing toddlers with their very first books. In New York, the Wildlife Conservation Society of the Bronx Zoo goes beyond animals and exhibits to provide reading programs for at-risk children and for homeless families. They also help young girls learn about careers in science through the Girls for Planet Earth program. In Connecticut, the Hartford Public Library provides children with even greater access to books and learning by building libraries right where children are – in schools. The library’s Creating Readers program provides family literacy education in 11 schools, while Family Place promotes the importance of reading aloud and provides parents with reading instruction

In Philadelphia, the Please Touch Museum provides mentoring and work-based learning programs for teenagers. And through the Family Court Project, art therapists help make court-supervised visits between children and their non-custodial parents more engaging

In southwestern Pennsylvania, the Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art brings Mary Cassatt and Andy Warhol to life for 71,000 residents of this rural community. The Museum brought the joy of art to more than 35,000 students this year through programs like Preschool Art Hour and Kids Art Camp. They are already preparing to teach nearly twice that many next year

Down South, the Southwest Georgia Regional Public Library’s motto is “Let your mind soar.” They are helping children and adults do just that with bookmobiles, summer reading programs, online homework help and a World War II Veterans History Project that shares the stories of local heroes with their community

I want to congratulate our 2002 Museum and Library Service award winners. I commend you for serving as catalysts for civic engagement – for preserving our great history and democracy – and for helping generations of Americans realize the value of lifelong learning

Our speakers here today know about the significant contributions museums and libraries make in our lives. As the director of the Institute of Museum and Library Services, Dr. Martin has been instrumental in helping to advance the mission and the role of America’s museums and libraries. His knowledge about museums and libraries is unsurpassed and well earned. I’ve been told he spends so much time in libraries and museums, he was once mistaken as part of an exhibit

Ladies and gentlemen, Dr. Robert Martin