Laura Bush, 'reader in chief,' hosts last book festival

It is her signature event, a contribution to the nation's capital likely to last longer and have more impact than most of the official proclamations that have come out of the West Wing during her husband's or anyone's presidency.

On Saturday, First Lady Laura Bush, a former teacher and librarian, will host her final National Book Festival on the Mall in Washington. This year's all-day event features children's author R.L. Stine, who wrote the "Goosebumps" series; Philippa Gregory, author of "The Other Boleyn Girl;" and Alexander McCall Smith, author of the best-selling series "No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency."

Oh yes, book lovers can also meet writers Laura Bush and her daughter Jenna, who co-authored a children's adventure book called "Read All About It!"

Mrs. Bush, dubbed the "reader in chief," brought the idea with her from Texas, where she inaugurated the state's festival 14 years ago. In Washington, the first book celebration took place three days before 9/11. Some 30,000 came that year, when the event was at the Library of Congress. Last year, long since moved to the larger National Mall, the festival attracted 120,000.

Seen here addressing a White House symposium on global literacy at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York last Monday, the first lady said she plans to continue promoting literacy around the world after the Bushes leave the White House. She said she will co-chair the U.N. Literacy Decade to help empower the estimated 770 million adults around the world who can't read.

In an interview with the Associated Press, Mrs. Bush said she hopes the event becomes an tradition and will whisper something about it to the next first lady.

I love the whole idea of the National Mall being turned over to literature for a Saturday a year. It still has that feeling of a lot of book lovers together, people who love to read and who love books.

Conceding that in the future, electronic reading devices may play a larger role in the world of literature, Mrs. Bush disclosed that her mother-in-law, former First Lady Barbara Bush, has already started reading "from a little hand-held screen that she can download books on."

But she added that for those who have a romantic feeling about the feel of ink on paper, "there will always be a place for the book."

-- Johanna Neuman

Photo: Jemal Countess / Getty Images