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Susan Hildreth: The National Medal for Museum
and Library Service is the highest national

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honor conferred on museums and libraries for
services to their communities.

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The institutions we honor tonight have been
chosen for their innovative approaches to

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public service and for their success in improving
communities and making a difference in peopleís

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lives.

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I would like to read an excerpt from a letter
from First Lady Michelle Obama to our honorees.

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Museums and libraries inspire us to stretch
our imaginations and play an important role

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in exposing Americans of all ages and backgrounds
to fresh ideas.

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They teach our children new skills and ways
of thinking, and even help to promote lifelong

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wellness.

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From big cities to small towns, this yearís
medal winners are making tremendous contributions

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to our communities through innovative programming
and a commitment to excellence.

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You are helping to lift up all those who visit
your institutions and I hope you take pride

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in all you have accomplished.

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I second Mrs. Obamaís sentiments and add
my congratulations to the winners of the 2011

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National Medal for Museum and Library Service.

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Thank you for everything you do.

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It is now my honor to introduce our special
guest, who will in a few minutes join me in

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presenting the medals.

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Cokie Roberts is an award winning journalist
and author, a senior news analyst for NPR

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News, where she was the Congressional Correspondent
for more than 10 years and political commentator

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for ABC News, providing analysis for all networking
news programming.

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She has won many awards including three Emmys.

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She has been inducted into the Broadcasting
and Cable Hall of Fame and was cited by American

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Women in Radio and Television as one of the
50 greatest women in the history of broadcasting.

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She is a sought after speaker and we are so
honored that she is taking part in this event

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this evening.

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Please welcome Cokie Roberts.

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Cokie Roberts: What a treat it is to be with
all of these people doing such wonderful work

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and honoring them, particularly here at the
Capitol.

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I mean, I love this place.

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I grew up here.

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This is a beautiful room, look at it.

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When youíre in hearings here, you can just
start looking at the ceiling and not having

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to pay attention to what theyíre talking
about, but which is good.

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But the contentiousness here is so awful these
days, that to be able to come into this institution,

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which really is the place where we should
be coming together, thatís what congress

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means, and you librarians can point that out
to some children and particularly to some

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grown ups.

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And but, instead of having the contention
here we are all together to honor people who

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have done wonderful, wonderful work.

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And I am really happy to have been asked to
join with the Institute for Museum and Library

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Services and my Public Radio colleague, David
Isay, who has been bringing the history of

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this country through the spoken word throughout
the country.

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The Library of Congress, of course, has all
of his StoryCorps recordings, but itís all

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over the country and the StoryCorps mobile,
what do you call that thing?

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Is that whatís itís called?

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Thatís good.

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Do you like that?

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Like the old bookmobiles and of course, you
hear them on National Public Radio.

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I got my first library card when I was five
years old and I remember it very well because

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we-- my mother marched me into the local library.

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It was on Lee Circle in New Orleans.

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And they told her that I couldnít have a
card until I was six.

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And she said, ìBut sheís reading.î And
they said, ìNo, she canít have a card.î

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And my mother was the wrong person to say
this too.

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And she then-- but she is-- she is Iím happy
to say, she is with us at 95.

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She very graciously, as she always is, worked
out a compromise, something that when she

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was in Congress, they still knew how to do.

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And she said, ìWell, suppose we arrange it
so that if she can write her name on the card,

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she can have a card?î And the librarian just
basically was out of resources to say no,

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and so I wrote my name and got my card.

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And have been an avid user of libraries ever
since.

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I now have two library cards; my local Montgomery
County Public Library here and my Library

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of Congress Researcherís card, which I have
to work really hard for.

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And of course, the role of museums in our
lives is always so incredibly important and

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you never know when itís going to make an
enormous difference.

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Recently, just last Martin Luther King holiday
in January I had one of my grandsons for the

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day and he said, ìI want to go to see something
about Martin Luther King.î, and it was before

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the monument had opened and happily because
I wouldnít have wanted to go there in January,

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and the American History Museum, the Museum
of American History or whatever itís called

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now, was having a whole Martin Luther King
presentation and he was mesmerized.

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And now, and he was six, five and now can
tell you a great deal about Martin Luther

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King and the civil rights movement and all
that because he had that experience in a museum.

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I had an experience in a museum that really
in some ways changed my life.

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We lived in Greece for about four years.

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My husband was the New York Time Bureau Chief
there and I was stringing for various news

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organizations, mainly CBS and we used to go
to Marathon all the time, with the-- our kids

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were little.

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And weíd go to the beach at Marathon, but
of course, Marathon, itís Marathon and thereís

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a big mound there thatís supposed to be where
the Persians were buried.

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But the-- if you go back into the hills, there
just sort of nestled into the bottom of one

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of the hills is this tiny museum, just tiny.

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And itís from thousands of years before the
battle of Marathon, and it has all of these

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very simple objects in it.

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It has some cooking utensils and itís got
some jewelry and itís got some weapons and

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itís got some objects for worship and I looked
in, and itís tiny, and I looked at those

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things and I thought, for women we could open
those cases and put on those jewels and take

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up those tools and start right where those
women from 5,000 years ago left off without

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missing a beat.

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For men, theyíd have to be priests or warriors,
which is why I think they didnít let women

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in for a long time, but for women that sense
of continuity was so evident and so strong

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that itís really affected my work tremendously.

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I mean, I wrote a book called, We Are Our
Mothersí Daughters as a result of that experience,

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and I have-- it has very much informed my
life since then.

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So I am a great believer in both libraries
and museums and in the power that they have

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in our lives.

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I must say our children in those years in
Greece did feel terribly oppressed having

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to read every sign in every museum.

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My husband just will not it rest, but it was
a great learning experience, as it continues

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to be, of course, here at home.

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And the wonderful stories that you saw glimpses
of in this nice video and that youíll hear

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a little bit more about as we give the awards,
really do give you a sense of the scope of

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these institutions and how they interact in
their communities, both with individuals in

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the communities and with the groups in the
communities and with the community as a whole.

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And so, anything from the Weippe Public Library
helping a family when it relocated from Arizona

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to Idaho, to the Brooklyn Museum.

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I mean, these are the difference of sizes
where the-- where tremendous inspiration to

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a young artist, to the Madison Childrenís
Museum providing performance opportunities

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to a brain damaged young man who was able
to find work there and do performances that

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really made his life meaningful.

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So it is great that we are celebrating these
libraries and museums.

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As you know better than I, but it always bears
restating, itís a tough, tough time.

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Youíve got more demands on you than ever
before in history and fewer resources and

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that is really difficult.

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Every public library these days or any one
worth its salt is serving as a whole community

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institution where people come and they come
in to use the computers and do their resumes

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there and they are buying fewer books, so
theyíre sitting and reading books in the

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library or taking books out of the library.

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Community organizations are meeting in libraries
because thatís where they can afford to meet,

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and so hours have to be longer and staff is
stretched and of course the cutbacks from

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government agencies are great.

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And that really does create enormous problems,
and it also comes at a time when everybody

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is being required, and I think the word is
required, to modernize constantly.

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That fascinating little clip we saw from the
Minnesota Seminary, no itís a priory.

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What is it?

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A monastery, thank you.

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I actually speak Catholic, but my mother was
the Ambassador to the Vatican, right, which

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is a whole other story.

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But the absolute demand to go digital is really
just-- itís fundamental because anyone whoís

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doing research now has got to be able to get
to that information on his or her computer

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where ever they are, and so to make that possible
is also now-- itís not an option.

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So all of that is a tremendous responsibility,
and the same things is true of museums where

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more and more relevance is required more and
more community outreach, more and more, again,

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the good news, thereís a good news part of
this.

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Good news is that more and more people are
using the museums as they have fewer dollars

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to spend on other forms of entertainment,
but it puts a tremendous stress on staff and

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on the institutions.

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I think the other really good news, and certainly
the people here in this room who are getting

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these wonderful awards are the most exemplative
of it.

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The other good news is that the museums and
libraries are stepping up to it.

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I am so impressed with the work thatís being
done, with the imagination that is coming

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to the fore as people find ways to deal with
the difficulties that theyíre facing and

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understand that one of the ways is to be more
and more engaged in the community and have

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the community be more and more and more engaged
in the institutions.

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Thatís the way it always should have been
anyway.

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And I know itís really hard work, and I know
Iím just saying it and itís easy for me

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to say and itís really hard for you to do,
but it is really important that you do it,

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and itís wonderful that you are doing it
and I am very honored to be able to salute

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you tonight.

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So thank you.

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Susan Hildreth: Thank you, Cokie for those
inspiring remarks.

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I would now like to introduce Mary Chute,
the IMLS Deputy Director for Library Services

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and Claudia French, the Deputy Director for
Museum Services, who will read the names of

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the medalists and those accepting the medals
and tell you a little bit about each of our

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winners.

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Mary Chute: Hi everyone.

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Itís great to have you here.

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Because the national medal is about service
to the community, each medal winner has brought

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with them someone on whom their institution
has had a significant positive impact.

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Claudia and I will read the names of the honorees
and briefly summarize the stories of these

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members of the communities.

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When we call your names, please come forward
and receive your medal from Susan and Cokie.

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Alachua County Library District in Gainesville,
Florida, Director Shaney T. Livingston, Ward

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Chair Sherwin Henry and community member Lenore
Krome.

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Lenore started using the Archer Library branch
of the Alachua County Library District by

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bringing her small children to attend programs
and check out numerous books.

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By exposing her family to the joy of reading
and the wonders of the world outside of their

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little town and by using the library and her
teaching, Lenore has taken full advantage

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of this small, rural library.

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All right.

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Thank you.

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Thatís great.

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The Columbus Metropolitan Library in Columbus,
Ohio; CFO Dewitt Harold, Board Chair, Roger

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Sugarman and community member Khamall Howard.

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Khamall joined the library summer youth program
as a high school sophomore and eventually

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took on a leadership role in the program.

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During his senior year, he was hired as a
library services aid.

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Library of Congress, here we go right there.

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The Hill Museum and Manuscript Library in
Collegeville, Minnesota; Director Father Columba

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Stewart, Board Chair Thomas Joyce and community
member Getatchew Haile.

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In 1975 while recovering from a brutal beating
he received as he was evicted from his native

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Ethiopia, Dr. Haile was hired by the Hill
Museum and Manuscript Library.

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His work there has been instrumental in preserving
the history of Ethiopia.

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The San Jose Public Library in San Jose, California.

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We have to let Susan do her little California
cheer.

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Director Jane Light, Board Chair Jean Lee,
community member Vikram Kanth.

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Vikram now a freshman at the US Naval Academy
learned to love his library at an early age

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when his immigrant parents brought him there
for its childrenís services.

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Vikram has since paid the library back by
organizing a not-for-profit to raise funds

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for 

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the library.

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The Weippe Public Library and Discovery Center
in Weippe, Idaho; Director Terri Summerfield,

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Acting Board Chair Marjorie Kuchynka, I think
I have that right, Kuchynka, community member

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Grady Thompson.

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Grady discovered all the library had to offer
after moving to Weippe from Tucson in 2008,

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especially enamored of the libraryís safe
and inviting atmosphere, Grady and her family

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have used the library for everything from
childrenís programs to paying bills online.

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Claudia French: All right museums, whereís
Brooklyn?

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Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, New York; Director
Arnold Lehman, Board Chair Jack Tamagni and

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community member Virginia Vergara.

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An art enthusiast from an early age, Virginia
gained knowledge and confidence in the Brooklyn

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Museumís apprentice program.

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She is now a visual artist and art professional.

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EdVenture Childrenís Museum, Columbia, South
Carolina; Director Catherine Horne, community

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member Noah Aitchison Adams and his mom Mary.

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Mary and Noah joined EdVenture Community Health
Initiative, the Big Ed Health Team, four years

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ago.

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Noah has made many trips through Eddie, a
40 foot, 17 ton museum centerpiece designed

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to teach people about the human body.

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Bravo.

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All right, Erie, Pennsylvania.

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Erie Art Museum; Director John Vanco, community
member Victoria Angelo.

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Victoria became involved with the Eerie Art
Museum in 2004 as part of the Old Songs, New

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Opportunities Project where she learned how
to work in an American daycare setting and

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had to use her traditional African song and
dance on the job.

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She is now one of the 30 artists featured
in the museumís exhibit, Making It Better,

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Folk Arts in Pennsylvania Today.

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I know thereís a lot of people from here.

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Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden, Richmond, Virginia;
Director Frank Robinson, Board Chair Bill

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King and community member Christ Corsello.

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Chris, working with his aid, Lisa Watts, has
volunteered at the Lewis Ginter Botanical

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Gardens for nearly two years.

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He enjoys making a meaningful contribution
to the garden and appreciates the community

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00:21:28.060 --> 00:21:29.060
he has found there.

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00:21:29.060 --> 00:21:48.950
And last, but not least, Madison Childrenís
Museum, Madison, Wisconsin; Director Ruth

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Shelly and community member Benjamin Perreth.

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00:21:53.900 --> 00:22:01.270
Ben, who suffered a brain hemorrhage at the
age of seven, and has survived numerous surgeries

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and other medical challenges, began volunteering
as a juggler at MCM.

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He now what he calls his dream job working
with the museum as a visitor services associate.

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Susan Hildreth: I am so impressed with all
these wonderful medalists, and particularly

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we have so many young people representing
as our community members.

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Weíre very, very proud of them and we know
weíre making a difference in their lives.