There’s an old saying that “When it rains, it pours,” and in this case the pouring is funding for North Texas. In helping the Dallas ISD to rebuild from last year’s devastating tornado, The Laura Bush Foundation for America’s Libraries has just awarded a $500,000 grant to help Thomas Jefferson High School, Francisco “Pancho” Medrano Middle School and Walnut Hill PK-8 to “expand, update and diversity their library book collections.”
Established in 2002 by former first lady Laura Bush, the Foundation’s mission has been to “provide funds to our Nation’s neediest schools in an effort to improve student achievement.”
According to Laura, “The tornadoes last fall destroyed parts of the Dallas community, including some of the schools our children attend. I am thrilled the Laura Bush Foundation will support three Dallas ISD school libraries affected by the storm. With the grant, these libraries will be restocked with new books so Dallas students can read and learn for years to come.”
In addition to her role as first lady of the land from 2001 to 2009, Laura earned a master’s degree in library science from the University of Texas in Austin and was herself a librarian, as well as a teacher.
In the past 18 years, the Foundation has awarded more than $16M to more than 2,800 schools across the country.