For Immediate Release
Office of Mrs. Bush
July 30, 2001
Remarks by Mrs. Bush at National Book Festival Press Conference
As delivered.
Thank you, Dr. Billington and the Library of Congress, for hosting
this event today, and also for your generous partnership in the
National Book Festival.
I want to thank Ray Allen of the Milwaukee Bucks for being here
today representing the NBA's Read to Achieve program. NBA fans love Ray
Allen, and I know they will love to see you back here, in September,
for the Festival.
I'm proud and excited to be here today for this announcement and
The Library of Congress is the perfect setting for today's news. The
Library of Congress is home to some of our nation's most precious
treasures, which every American can see and enjoy. Indeed, the Library
itself is an American treasure.
The late Eudora Welty, whose recent death all lovers of literature
mourn, said this about her first library experience in her
autobiography, One Writer's Beginning:
She said, "My mother wished me to have my own library card to check
out books for myself. She took me in to introduce me to the librarian
and said, 'Eudora is nine years old and has my permission to read any
book she wants from the shelves.'"
The young Miss Welty devoured books. She wrote, "Two by two, I read
library books as fast as I could go, rushing them home in the basket of
my bicycle.
From the minute I reached our house, I started to read. I knew
this was bliss."
"I wanted to read immediately. The only fear was that of books
coming to an end."
Like Eudora Welty, I love to read and I believe everyone should
have a chance to experience the sense of adventure and satisfaction
that comes from reading a good book -- and, I might add, good newspaper
articles.
The National Book Festival is inspired by the Texas Book Festival,
a popular statewide event in Austin, Texas, which is now in its sixth
year and has drawn more than 25,000 people.
We learned something important at that Book Festival, and that is:
People really do love to buy, hold and read books.
Based on our success in Texas, I knew we could create something
equally, if not more fun, here in our nation's capital.
The National Book Festival will take place at a time when many
American children are going back to school.
Appropriately, on the morning of Friday, September 7, we'll begin
with the National Book Festival's "Back to School Children's Reading
Hour" right here in this great hall. Dr. Billington and I - and a few
other special guests - will read to a group of children.
Then, on Saturday, September 8, the full festival will unfold in
and around the Library of Congress and the grounds of our Nation's
Capitol.all open to the public.
Our lineup of nearly 50 outstanding authors includes:
David McCullough whose latest work is John Adams;
Nathaniel Philbrick, who won the National Book Award for his
Nonfiction work, In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship
Essex.
Sue Grafton, the great mystery writer who has reached another
"letter" in her alphabetical mystery series with P is for Peril.
Thomas Mallon who wrote Henry and Clara and Two Moons;
Author David Levering Lewis, who won the Pulitzer Prize for W.E.B.
DuBois, Biography of a Race 1868-1919.
beloved children's book author and illustrator Marc Brown who
writes the "Arthur" series;
Patricia Maclachlan, who brought us Sarah Plain and Tall.
And a host of other authors, celebrities and special guests.
We're going to have a lot of fun.
My hope is that this Festival will encourage a whole nation to read
together on September 8.
So, join us here in our Nation's Capital for an unforgettable
experience, cover to cover. Thank you.
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