Texas library to be named for Laura Bush

AUSTIN, Texas, Aug. 3 (UPI) -- A new branch of the Westbank Community Library opening next year in West Austin, Texas, will reportedly be named after first lady Laura Bush.

This will be the first library named solely for the wife of President George W. Bush, the Austin American-Statesman said Friday.

Expected to cost $7.1 million to build, the Laura Bush Community Library will occupy 14,000 square feet and offer a drive-up window, thousands of books, a family center, a quiet reading room and a community meeting room.

"Mrs. Bush has done amazing things for libraries and for authors, all to promote the joy of reading," said Beth Fox, the director of Westbank Community Library since it opened in 1983.

During her time as Texas' first lady, Bush hosted several fund-raising events to benefit Westbank Library, Fox said.

Bush also founded the Texas Book Festival in 1995.

A branch of the El Paso Public Library has been named after the first lady and her mother, Jenna Welch.

Bush is scheduled to speak about the importance of libraries and about plans for the new branch at a reception in Austin on Aug. 14.