Laura Bush

Laura Bush may be the first librarian to ever reside in the White House. She became the First Lady when her husband, George W. Bush, was sworn into office as the 43rd President of the United States on January 20, 2001.

Laura Bush graduated from Southern Methodist University in 1968 with a bachelor's degree in education. She later earned a Master's degree in Library Science from the University of Texas-Austin and worked as a school librarian.

As First Lady, Laura Bush's public projects include serving as Honorary Ambassador for UNESCO's Decade of Literacy, convening a summit on early childhood development, publicizing campaigns for the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, and leading the Helping America's Youth initiative. Laura Bush has also worked with the Library of Congress to establish an annual National Book Festival. Her work has not been without controversy. When she organized a poetry conference in Washington D.C. in 2003, the event was cancelled when a group of American poets boycotted the event in protest of President Bush's policies and the U.S. invasion of Iraq.

Other librarians who became high-profile figures in the U.S. federal government include Benjamin Franklin and J. Edgar Hoover.

See also: Ben Franklin's Library Company of Philadelphia is founded

Deborah Copperud

Works consulted

"First Lady's biography" (n.d.) Retrieved April 28, 2006 from http://www.whitehouse.gov/firstlady/flbio.html.

Pollitt, K. (2003, February 23). "Poetry makes nothing happen? Ask Laura Bush." The Nation. Retrieved April 28, 2006 from http://www.thenation.com/doc/20030224/pollitt.