Laura Bush Foundation Awards $500K for Dallas ISD Libraries
Preston Hollow’s favorite former librarian has stepped up to the plate to help replenish the libraries of three Dallas ISD schools that were hit by an EF3 tornado last year.
The Laura Bush Foundation for America’s Libraries announced this week it would award $500,000 to the Dallas Education Foundation for Dallas ISD as it continues rebuilding from the October 2019 North Dallas tornadoes.
Thomas Jefferson High School, Francisco “Pancho” Medrano Junior High School (where the majority of students from the former Cary Middle School are attending now), and the soon-to-be Walnut Hill pre-K through eighth-grade campus will use the grants to expand, update, and diversify their library book collections.
“The tornadoes last fall destroyed parts of the Dallas community, including some of the schools our children attend,” the former First Lady said. “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.”
The Laura Bush Foundation for America’s Libraries supports school libraries with the greatest needs with the goal of encouraging all students to develop a love of reading and learning. Since its inception in 2002, it has awarded more than $16 million to more than 2,800 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 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, where it is managed as a restricted fund.
Grants for the 2020-2021 school year are also now open. To determine school eligibility, visit www.laurabushfoundation.org.
