[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 8]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 11961]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




       HONORING NASHVILLE PUBLIC LIBRARY IN NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. JIM COOPER

                              of tennessee

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, July 26, 2017

  Mr. COOPER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Nashville Public 
Library as the 2017 Library of the Year. This national honor, awarded 
by Library Journal and Gale Cengage Learning, recognizes public 
libraries for their commitment to excellence, innovative programs and 
services, and dedication to the community.
  Nashville Public Library is awesome, and unlike any other in America. 
It is also the location of my district office, perhaps the only 
congressional office in America located in a public library.
  The Library partnered with Metro Nashville Public Schools to create 
the Limitless Libraries initiative, which allows students and teachers 
to order and borrow books, movies, laptops, iPads, and more. The 
Limitless Libraries program is a national model for getting library 
materials into students' hands every day, and this partnership has also 
helped turn several school libraries into exciting, interactive hubs 
for students.
  Nashville Public Library reaches students outside the classroom, too.
  Teenagers can work with professional mentors to create art or new 
inventions, work with robotics, and produce music and podcasts through 
the Library's unique Studio NPL program. The Library also engages 
children though its Bringing Books to Life! program, putting on 
productions at the Library's Children's Theater, and its well-known 
Puppet Truck. Puppeteers perform 20 shows a week at the theater, but 
also use the Puppet Truck to reach children and adults throughout 
Davidson County.
  Most importantly is Nashville Public Library's Civil Rights Room. 
This chronicles Nashville's place in the Civil Rights movement, telling 
the stories of the heroes who fought against segregation and for equal 
rights. Last year the Library and the Nashville Public Library 
Foundation named our friend and colleague John Lewis their Literary 
Award Honoree. Congressman Lewis' book, March, was also this year's 
selection in Nashville Reads, the Library's city-wide reading campaign, 
where everyone is invited to read a book and discuss it at libraries in 
the community.
  Mr. Speaker, the writer and poet Jorge Luis Borges said, ``I have 
always imagined that Paradise will be a kind of library.'' I agree.
  Nashville Public Library is more than books inside a beautiful 
building. It is even more than Paradise. It is the heart of our 
community.

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