California First Lady Presents 47 School Libraries with Governor's Book Fund Grants

Children from the Fruit Ridge Elementary School
in Sacramento thank California's First Lady Sharon Davis
with a handmade sign and lots of smiles.

On March 27, 2001, at the California State Library in Sacramento, First Lady Sharon Davis presented 13 California schools from Sacramento, Butte, Contra Costa, Glenn, San Joaquin and Sonoma counties with the first Governor’s Book Fund Grants. The First Lady continued her school tour by visiting the remaining counties from Shasta to San Diego. Each school received $5,000 from the Governor’s Book Fund School Library Enrichment Grant to purchase new library books.

"The Governor and I know how important reading is to a child’s future," Mrs. Davis said. "Reading is the gateway skill. If students are all going to become confident learners, they first need to become confident readers. And, in today’s new economy, 90 percent of the new jobs will require much higher levels of literacy."

Governor Davis and Mrs. Davis created the Governor’s Book Fund in coordination with Dr. Kevin Starr and the California State Library Foundation. The grants provide $5,000 in funding to each school that is in need of up-to-date quality books for their school library. Schools chosen to receive the School Library Enrichment Grants were required to submit an application outlining how the funds would be allocated.

Principal of the Chico County Day School accepts
their $5,000 grant and certificate from the First Lady
while State Librarian and Governor's Book Fund
Advisory Board member Dr. Kevin Starr looks on.

"This grant is essentially the foundation upon
which we will build a wide reading library for our
special population of students. We are deeply
grateful for your help in this effort."
--Burton Green School of the
Los Angeles Child Guidance Clinic

"It is a sad fact that too many students in California can’t find the newest, most challenging books in their school libraries," Mrs. Davis continued. "That’s why the Governor and I wanted to start the Governor’s Book Fund. We know that giving students access to a wide selection of up-to-date books can have a significant impact on reading skills."

The mission of the Governor’s Book Fund is to develop private sector resources to increase literacy by providing books for California school libraries. The Governor’s Book Fund Advisory Board reviewed over 2,700 applications and selected 47 California elementary, middle and high schools which demonstrated the greatest need and most thoughtful proposals.

The First Lady and principal Dr. Fernando Duran
from Grant Elementary School in Santa Ana look on
as student Ariel Kelly thanks the Governor's
Book Fund for the grant they received.

Governor's Book Fund Advisory Board Members
Maria Rangel (on left) and Marilyn Robertson (on right)
with First Lady Sharon Davis (center) at the GBF event
at Los Angeles Public Library on April 2, 2001

"This money will give us the opportunity to
expand our very meager supply of library materials
and provide our students with more enriching books
for their reading experiences."
-- Quote from Plumas Charter School

All grantees will place a Governor’s Book Fund bookplate in every book they purchased for their library. Schools will also receive a special certificate signed by the Governor and the First Lady.