To The Leader

Friday, Orangefield Elementary received a $1500 grant from the first round of 2017 Disaster Relief Initiative grants given by the Laura Bush Foundation for America’s Libraries. Grants totaling more than 850,000 will be distributed to 17 schools damaged or destroyed during Hurricane Harvey.

“Just like we did after Hurricane Katrina, The Laura Bush Foundation is committed to rebuilding school library collections that have been devastated during disasters we witnessed last fall,” said Mrs. Laura Bush. “As a former librarian, I know school libraries are important to improving student achievement, and with the first round of grants from the 2017 Disaster Relief Initiative, these schools can start on the path to full recovery.”

Orangefield Elementary is ecstatic to receive the grant to help replace lost books due to flooding from Hurricane Harvey.

In response to a shattering season of storms and wildfires, The Laura Bush Foundation for America’s Libraries established the 2017 Disaster Relief Initiative to help rebuild school libraries that were damaged or destroyed in recent natural disasters in Texas, Florida, California, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico. In addition to directing approximately $1 million of its resources to the 2017 Disaster Relief Initiative, the Laura Bush Foundation continues to fundraise for the school library rebuilding efforts. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis, and grants will continue to be awarded all over the Nation to help replace book and print collections in America’s school libraries.

The Laura Bush Foundation for America’s Libraries provides grants of up to $7,000 to our Nation’s neediest schools so they can extend, update, and diversify the book and print collections in their libraries with the goal of encouraging students to develop a love of reading and learning. Since its inception in 2002, it has awarded over $14.3 million to more than 2,700 schools across the country. In addition to the annual grants, the “Gulf Coast School Library Recovery Initiative” in 2006 provided nearly $6.5 million to school libraries affected by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita to rebuild book collections lost or destroyed in the storms. In April 2017, Mrs. Bush announced the first ever international grants from the Laura Bush Foundation for America’s Libraries. Therisanyo School in Gaborone, Botswana and Ella Du Plessis High School in Windhoek, Namibia each received $2,500 towards their school libraries.

In 2014, The Laura Bush Foundation transitioned from the Community Foundation for the National Capital Region in Washington, D.C. to the George W. Bush Presidential Center in Dallas, Texas, where it is managed as a restricted fund. More information can be found at www.laurabushfoundation.org.