LISNews Librarian And Information Science News

Salt Lake Tribune reports: No formality was overlooked at Monday's rededication of the University of Utah's Marriott Library.

But in a break from tradition, U. President Michael Young bypassed a ribbon cutting in favor of a book exchange between dignitaries headlining the event and four school-age children. The exchange was meant to symbolize the library's enduring role, "the transfer of knowledge from one generation to another," said Young.

But for the Rytting siblings, James and Lizzie, it was a chance to get up-close and personal with former first lady Laura Bush, America's most famous librarian.

"It was so cool," said 9-year-old Lizzie. "I want to be a librarian when I grow up."

Bush delivered the keynote address Monday at the invitation of Bill Marriott, son of library namesake J. Willard Marriott Sr., and a contributor to the Laura Bush Foundation for America's Libraries.

The University of Wisconsin System School Library Education Consortium has been awarded almost $1 million to help school librarians become better versed in technology and social media such as Twitter.

The United States Institute of Museum and Library Services Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Program will award $989,495 that will be used to train 50 new school library specialists for Wisconsin’s rural and high-need urban public schools. This was the only grant awarded in Wisconsin. More from Bizjournals/Milwaukee.

I wonder if Laura tweets?

As we now know, the outgoing first lady is writing a book, and Scribner is publishing it. It is supposed to offer "an intimate account of Laura Bush's life experiences, including eight years in the White House."

Her husband remains a captive of his own spin, which explains the lack of publisher interest in a memoir by an ex-president. Perhaps Mrs. Bush is more inclined toward introspection and honest disclosure, although according to the Boston Globe, evidence at the moment is slight.

During a recent interview with his wife, President Bush told CNN's Larry King that he likes President-elect Barack Obama.

"But he was so critical of you. Do you take that personally or don't you?" King queried.

"I did," Laura Bush quickly answered.

It would seem the first and last actually famous librarian, soon-to-be-former First Lady Laura Bush, has found a home for her memoir, despite an apparent lack of enthusiasm from several NY publishers.

Scribners is the lucky lady. You can read about it here at Yahoo: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090105/ap_en_ot/laura_bush_book

I wouldn't give a festering bowl of dog snot for her husband but I always liked her. Smart, classy, rational, diplomatic. Seems the wrong Bush went into politics.

She got a lot of money for the book too. More than her husband and close to what Hillary got.

The last story of 2008 on First Lady Laura Bush.

From The New Yorker: "According to Mrs. Bush’s spokeswoman, Sally McDonough, “She’s going to write a book about the people she met and her life in the White House. It’s not going to be an ‘I grew up in Midland’ type of book.”

The reception to Mrs. Bush’s pitch has been mixed so far. “She was not forthcoming about anything that I would consider controversial,” the [unnamed] publisher who met with her said. “We questioned her rigorously, but it was one-word answers. I considered it the worst, or the most frustrating, meeting of its sort that I’ve ever had.” He added, “But she really couldn’t have been nicer.”

“I chose not to meet with her,” a publisher at another [unnamed] company said. “I got the impression that everyone was totally underwhelmed by her. That’s why there’s so little buzz.”

Cubist Take on Laura Bush on the Cover of American Libraries

Not a celebrity visit to a library, but celebrity support of a library. Does that count Blake?

In the tiny town of Ellisville IL, population 86, is one great big treasure: 3,500 books packed into 336 square feet, probably the smallest public library in the state. The tiny library, however, has actually grown over the last five years.

Town native Helen Meyers officially opened the new Ellisville Library, which is double the size of the old one, in 2003. Word of Helen’s work spread, and First Lady Laura Bush sent seven books and a letter, which is framed on the library’s back wall.

‘‘I purposely did not put her name in the books, because I figured somebody would check them out and keep them,’’ Helen says.

Television celebrity Monty Hall sent her a check for $100, and the widow of author Louis L’Amour sent $300. Canton Daily Ledger.

Five years after the new library’s opening, Helen, now 82, still opens up the library from 9 to 11 a.m. every Saturday and hopes that people will come discover a great book.

First lady Laura Bush confirms to The Associated Press that she's planning a memoir and has met with publishers.

The confirmation comes in a telephone interview to discuss her upcoming special about the White House on cable's History Channel.

Anybody remember the Nixon inaugural??

Wonder who will be the next POTUS?!?! (don't forget to Vote)

When the next president takes the oath of office on January 20, 2009, he will continue a tradition that began with George Washington in 1789. To celebrate this ritual of democracy, the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum has created "Called Upon By the Voice of My Country," an exhibit looking at the history and the pageantry of presidential inaugurations. The exhibit will run from October 30, 2008, until April 19, 2009.

Among the exhibits, First Lady Laura Bush's 2005 inaugural gown, publicly displayed for the first time, on loan from the White House. Report from MarketWatch.

Things aren't improving fast enough or far enough, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa and parts of Asia, and particularly among women.

U.S. First Lady Laura Bush was at U.N. headquarters in New York Tuesday to spotlight the need for improved literacy. The statistics are daunting, 774 million people worldwide cannot read and write. Two-thirds of them are women. Seventy-five million children do not attend school. And in Africa, only 61 percent of adults can read and write, compared with the world average of about 82 percent.

More from the Voice of America.