Today we celebrate the birthday of Abigail Powers Fillmore, the first wife of President Millard Fillmore. Born March 13, 1798, Abigail Fillmore is not nearly as well known as some of her fellow first ladies, such as Eleanor Roosevelt, Abigail Adams, or Jackie Kennedy. So why should we care about her? Well, one of her accomplishments was the establishment of a library at the White House. She noticed that the White House was lacking in books, and so, at her urging, Congress appropriated $250 for a White House library. The first lady was also an early proponent of public libraries. It was Abigail, a teacher, who inspired Millard to join the town library early in his career. You can read more about Abigail (and other first ladies) in the Biography Resource Center database, at http://www.nashua.lib.nh.us/IbrowseAdultAlpha.htm.
More famously, Laura Welch Bush is a former school librarian. For those interested in the life of the current first lady, the Nashua Public Library offers:
Laura Bush : an intimate portrait of the first lady, by Ronald Kessler.
George and Laura : portrait of an American marriage, by Christopher Andersen.
Laura Welch Bush, First Lady, by Tanya Lee Stone (for children).
Her mother-in-law, Barbara Bush, was heavily involved in literacy efforts, as the title of one of our children's books makes clear:
Barbara Bush : first lady of literacy, by June Behrens.
More on Barbara Bush can be found in:
Reflections: Life After the White House by Barbara Bush.
Barbara Bush : a memoir, by Barbara Bush.
Barbara Bush : a biography, by Pamela Kilian.
Barbara Bush, first lady, by Rose Blue and Corinne J. Naden. (for children)
There are many other books on the first ladies in the library's collection. You might also be interested in the White House's own web site about the first ladies, found at http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/firstladies/.