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welcome to the White House it is
wonderful to have you all here you've

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got snow you've got Christmas it's the
best time of year so welcome I am so

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pleased that all of you could join us
today as we award the 2010 National

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medals for Museum and Library service to
10 outstanding libraries and museums

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from across the country I want to start
by acknowledging the members of Congress

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who were here with us today uh I want to
thank all of you for taking the time to

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join us during a very busy time of the
year but this is an important occasion

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and we wanted to make sure that everyone
could be a part of it I particularly

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want to recognize our guest of honor
today uh this year's medal winners for

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your tremendous contributions to our
communities now uh from the looks of

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things you all are pretty diverse Bunch
uh you come from every corner of the

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country uh from big cities and from
small towns and your programming

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involves everything from puppetry and
gardening uh to Civil War battles and

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science experiments but you're here
today because you all share the same

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commitment to Excellence that same
determination to serve your communities

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and The Same Spirit of innovation you're
here because you've challenged the

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conventional Notions of what a library
or Museum can and should be

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pushing the boundaries of what's
possible uh embracing new ideas and

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approaches uh at Connor Prairie
interactive history park for example

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guests don't just view his historical
reenactments they actually become part

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of them on one visit they might be
Pioneers living on the Prairie in the

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early 1800s on the next visit they might
be Fu fugitive slaves risking their

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lives for a chance at Freedom at patch
hog Medford library which serves a large

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Hispanic population they have a language
Cafe where English-speaking and

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Spanish-speaking teenagers can meet to
practice their language skills with one

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another and the rang View Library
District hasn't just gotten rid of The

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Dewy Decimal System they've actually
eliminated overdue fines

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uh and I understand they've even made
t-shirts that read sh is a four-letter

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word and you all don't just think in
different ways you actually think in

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very big ways your work has uh never
just been limited to the four walls of

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your institutions instead you bring what
you have to offer to as many people as

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possible reaching out to underserve
populations finding creative ways to

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stretch your resources as far as they
can go uh the Nashville Public Library

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has opened up their collection to high
schools across the city so today

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students can get online check out a book
and have it delivered right to their own

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School library at explor uh they don't
just bring kids to the museum they bring

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the museums to the kids creating more
than 200 science education programs that

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travel to every county in the state and
the Japanese American National Museum

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hosted a conference that brought
together folks from all across the

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country to discuss topics ranging from
diversity to civil liberties to social

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justice but while some of your work may
be National in scope ultimately your

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most powerful impact is local each of
you is an integral part of your

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community each of you strives every day
to meet the needs of the people who walk

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through your doors and that's
particularly true in times of Challen

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alleng and crisis when many of you offer
vital Services stepping up to be there

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for folks when they need you the most
for example the New York Botanical

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Garden started the Bronx Greenup
revitalization program and they help

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plant hundreds of school and Community
Gardens and struggling neighborhoods so

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that families could grow their own fresh
produce when the West Bloomfield

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Township uh was hard hit by the economic
downturn the West Bloomfield Township

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Public Library sponsored job workshops
and computer trainings to get folks back

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on their feet when Hurricane Katrina
struck and many people were displaced to

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Jackson Mississippi the Mississippi
Museum of Art helped start a program

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called life
shards uh and for four months families

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worked with an art therapist to create
artworks out of actual debris from the

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storm and the Peter white public Library
recently hosted a series of events to

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educate the community about mental
health and mental illness I think their

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director Pam Christensen put it best
when she said there are so many stories

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here and and they're not all on the
shelves uh and I can imagine that all of

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you here today all of you honores would
probably agree with that

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sentiment U because you know that what
you do each day isn't just about the

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books on your shelves or the items in
your exhibits it's about the people who

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walk through your doors and that also
happens to be how my husband and and I

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view our time here at the white house uh
because while our family has the

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pleasure of living here uh we know that
we're really just guests um this is

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really the people's house we say that
all the time and it's also in its own

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way a museum uh and as I told a group of
children that I was visiting with

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earlier this week my husband is the 44th
President uh which means that dozens of

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other presidents and and their families
have lived here uh and each of them has

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created their own memories and made
their own history uh right under this

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roof and we are determined to share that
proud Heritage with as many people as

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possible particularly our young people
uh because we want them to not just

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experience this Legacy but to feel a
part of this Legacy that is so important

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for our kids we want them to know that
they have a place in our museums in our

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libraries in our cultural centers and
most importantly in the walls of this

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very house uh the White House and I know
that's what all of you strive for as

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well uh and that's your mission and
that's why I am very proud to be here

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today to honor you all for the work that
you do so uh I want to thank you uh we

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are very very delighted to have you here
uh we're excited about the work that you

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do every day and I want to congratulate
you all on some truly magnificent

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achievements and I look forward to all
that you'll continue to to do in the the

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years ahead so now we can get to the
business of giving out some Awards

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taking some
pictures seeing the press and then you

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can get out of here and see the rest of
the house

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uh so with that it's my pleasure to turn
things over to Mary Chu from The

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Institute of Museum and Library Services
who will introduce today's honores so

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thank you

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all thank you so much Mrs Obama well
ready to get to the winners

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here our first award Connor PR
interactive History Park fisers Indiana

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president and CEO Ellen Rosenthal and
Community member Randy French are

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accepting the national medal for Connor
Prairie interactor History Park in

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fisers Indiana Connor Prairie is an
outdoor living history museum renowned

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for its innovative approach to learning
Randy French learned to read as an adult

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through the literacy program Indie reads
which then partnered with Connor Prairie

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to engage students in music trips now
Randy plans the outings and says that

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literacy includes being an active
Community

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[Applause]
member and next we have Explorer Al

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Albuquerque New Mexico executive
director Dr Patrick Lopez and Community

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member Sarah Keeny are accepting the
national medal for Explorer Science

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Center and Children's Museum in
Albuquerque New Mexico explora offers

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the Albuquerque Community more than 550
inquiry based programs and Exhibits that

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encourage critical thinking and Foster
lifelong science learning as the

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principal of the Los pedia Elementary
School Sarah has found fresh approaches

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for engaging teachers students and their
parents by using the Museum's programs

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[Music]

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the Japanese americ national museum in
Los Angeles

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California akmi kikumura Yano president
and CEO and Community member Paul

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takamoto are accepting the national
medal for the Japanese americ national

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museum in Los Angeles California the
museum explores American history through

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the lens of Japanese American
experiences emphasizing the importance

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of understanding Ing and appreciating
All American diversity in 2004 4 Paul

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accompanied his mother on a museum trip
to visit a World War II campsite where

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she had been incarcerated this began a
transformative healing process for his

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family and for Paul a new understanding
of his Japanese American

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[Applause]

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[Music]
Heritage the miss Mississippi Museum of

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Art in Jackson Mississippi director
Betsy Bradley and Community member

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gwendelyn McGee are accepting the
national medal for the Mississippi

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Museum of Art in Jackson the museum
Embraces its Mississippi roots in all

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programming grounded in a sense of place
that contributes to the understanding of

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the cultural identity of the state and
its people Gwen is a textile artists who

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says she has benefited from the staff's
commitment and dedication to Regional

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artists and she has garnered numerous
awards at the local Regional National

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and international

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levels Nashville Public Library
Nashville Tennessee director Donna nicle

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and Community member Nancy mclen are
accepting the national medal for the

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Nashville Public Library and Nashville
Tennessee the library is a leader in

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efforts to continually improve and
enrich the city through through Outreach

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and public programming that is
educational and fun Nancy Embraces the

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library program's whole child approach
to learning and uses the new methods to

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impact the lives of her students and
families many of whom are at

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risk the New York Botanical Garden New
York New York president and CEO Gregory

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long and Community member Karen
Washington are accepting the national

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medal for the New York Botanical Garden
the garden advocates for the plant

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kingdom and strengthens the community by
presenting programs events exhibitions

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and classes that emphasize the
importance of Environmental Conservation

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healthy living and education Karen has
been a community activist since 1985

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speaking out for garden protection and
preservation and working to turn empty

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lots in the Bronx into to Community

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Gardens Pat hog Medford library patch
hog New York director Dina MCN krills

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and Community member zeni Velasquez are
accepting the national medal for the pat

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hog Medford library in Pat hog New York
throughout years of change and growth

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the library has remained focused on its
ultimate goal of basic literacy since

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its start in the 1880s in a side room of
a shoe store zeni immigrated to the

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United States from Ecuador in 1991 and
credits the library's Spanish section

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for helping her become proficient in
English work professionally and become a

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citizen her dreams came true starting at
the

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[Music]

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library the Peter white public library
in Marquette Michigan director Pam

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Christensen and Community member Jane
Ryan are accepting the national medal on

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behalf of the Peter white public library
in Marquette Michigan the library is a

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Learning Hub for marquette's residents
and provides programs to promote

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acceptance and engage people from all
walks of life Jane advocates for people

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with mental illnesses and worked with
the staff to develop three months of

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award-winning program on mental health
issues

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[Applause]

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the Range View Library District and any
think libraries in Adams County Colorado

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director Pam sanan and Community member
Donna Kelly will accept the national

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medal for Range View Library District
and anything libraries in Adams County

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the libraries revamped their Library
services in 2009 switching from Dewey

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decimal to a system based on Words which
has been well received by the community

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Donna and her family are passionate
Library patrons who are particularly

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grateful that their 9-year-old son
overcame difficulty reading at a library

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program by reading to a

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[Applause]

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dog and our last award to West
Bloomfield Township Public library in

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West Bloomfield Township Michigan
director Clara Nal borer and Community

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member Cameron Thomas Shaw will accept
the national medal for West Bloomfield

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Township Public Library in
Michigan once a small library in the

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Detroit suburbs the library has grown to
meet the needs of a culturally diverse

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community no matter the changes the
library's most important partnership is

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still with parents a former latchkey kid
himself and now a senior at morous

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College in Atlanta Cameron attributes
his educational and personal success to

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the second home that he found at the
[Applause]

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[Music]
[Applause]

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library well you all survived
it you you looked at the right

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photographer not that you all are the
wrong

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photographers uh so now it's time to
enjoy uh so with that I will bid you all

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a happy holidays on behalf of myself my
husband Malia Sasha grandma and

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bo uh make sure that you are safe you
keep working hard because we're going to

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need you next year to keep doing what
you're doing so now all you have to do

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is enjoy the house we've got a wonderful
reception look around touch feel enjoy

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uh you've earned it so thank you all so
much take care

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[Applause]
[Music]