Laura Bush Foundation Awards $500,000 to Gulf Coast School Libraries

Debra Lau Whelan -- School Library Journal, 5/3/2006

Ten school libraries in Louisiana and Mississippi were awarded $500,000 today by the Laura Bush Foundation for America’s Libraries as part of an effort to help rebuild Gulf Coast media centers that were destroyed by Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma last year.

The foundation’s leadership council met with First Lady Laura Bush six months ago to create a Gulf Coast School Library Recovery Initiative, a separate fund of the foundation, to specifically help devastated school libraries.

Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma damaged or destroyed dozens of colleges and universities and more than 1,100 schools. It costs at least $50,000 to restore an elementary school library, and double that for a secondary school library, according to the foundation’s Web site.

For the first round of funding, seven schools in Louisiana and three in Mississippi were chosen by an advisory committee of school librarians from around the country.

The foundation is still accepting applications and a second round of grants will be award this summer. All schools in Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas, Florida, and Alabama that were affected by the hurricanes are encouraged to apply.

For more information and a list of today’s winners, visit www.laurabushfoundation.org.