Mrs. Bush Hosts First White House Conference on School Libraries

Since arriving in Washington, First Lady Laura Bush has wasted little time establishing herself as the country's preeminent advocate for school libraries. As host of the first White House conference on school libraries, on June 4, she again demonstrated her devotion to literacy. The goal of the three-hour conference, attended by approximately 150 K–12 administrators nationwide, was to document through research and anecdotal evidence the media center's essential role in improving student achievement and fostering school reform. The conference was organized jointly by the First Lady's staff and Robert Martin, director of the Institute of Museum and Library Services. It didn't go without notice, however, that not a single librarian was included among the panelists.

Bush, a former teacher and school librarian, also used the gathering as a backdrop to announce that her new Laura Bush Foundation for America's Libraries had raised $5 million to "help bring books to inner-city, rural school and community libraries." (For more information, see www.laurabushfoundation.org.)

The presentations included several K–12 administrators who provided compelling evidence linking well-stocked, well-positioned school libraries to student performance and offered blueprints for reinventing the school library to enhance student learning. Steve Wisely, superintendent of the Medford (OR) School District, described school libraries in his district as "beehive centers of activity," and "truly the hubs of learning" in all of his district's schools. Faye Pharr, principal of an elementary magnet school for math, science, and technology in Chattanooga, TN, told how she oversaw her school library's transformation from "a resource center to a center of instruction, exploration, and learning." Explained Pharr: "The key to change was the collaborative planning between the library media specialist and the classroom teachers."

Colorado State Library researcher Keith Curry Lance presented the results of his critical six-state study, tying the viability of school libraries to improved reading test scores. (For a summary of the research, see "Dick and Jane Go to the Head of the Class ," April 2000, pp. 44–47.) Lance was joined by Susan Neuman, assistant secretary for elementary and secondary education in the Department of Education, who also spoke about the causal importance of healthy, accessible libraries in boosting reading achievement among children. School Library Journal columnist and University of Nebraska, Omaha, Professor Gary Hartzell discussed the school librarians' perceptual challenges, focusing on how administrators most likely acquired their less-than-stellar images of the library media center through their own educational careers, and offered strategies to break through those dated, inaccurate perceptions.