Representative for New Jersey Center for the Book Participates in National Book Festival on October 4 in Washington D.C.

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New Brunswick, NJ - Renee B. Swartz, chair of the New Jersey Center for the Book, heads to Washington, D.C. to represent New Jersey at the third annual National Book Festival, this Saturday, October 4, 2003. The festival draws together representatives from all 50 states in support of literacy, libraries, and the importance of print culture in America. Three years ago, First Lady Laura Bush, a former librarian, teamed up with the national Center for the Book, which is a Library of Congress initiative, to establish the festival.

"Libraries represent our institutional memory," says Swartz, a dedicated advocate of libraries and literacy for over thirty years. "It has been my focus to work toward assuring that the citizens of our state have access to resources and information that will enrich their lives, enhace their education, and continue to foster the democratic force that makes our American spirit unique."

Within New Jersey, the construction and renovation of 68 municipal libraries dramatically demonstrates the state's strong commitment to its literary heritage, says Swartz, who also servers as chair of both the State Library Advisory Council and the Monmouth County Library Commission.

New Jersey Center for the Book, established in January, 2002, is part of the nationwide Library of Congress initiative to promote books, reading, libraries and literacy. Housed within the School of Communication, Information, and Library Studies, at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey (New Brunswick), the New Jersey Center for the Book highlights the literary heritage of New Jersey as a way to celebrate the relationship between reading and libraries as the furture of learning. The New Jersey Center for the Book prides itself on being the first in the nation to partner with a school of library and information studies within a University (Rutgers) setting.

For more information please visit the New Jersey Center for the Book Web site (www.njcenterforthebook.org).

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