Associate Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, U.S. Senators Carol Moseley-Braun and Paul Simon, Attorney General Janet Reno, Secretary of Education Richard Riley, television correspondents Cokie Roberts and Robert MacNeil, and actor Richard Thomas read from their favorite childhood books to an enthusiastic audience of Washington, D.C., schoolchildren at a Sept. 8, program at the Library.
The festive event, sponsored by the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) and the Center for the Book, celebrated the tenth anniversary of the PBS series "Reading Rainbow" and marked International Literacy Day. John Y. Cole, director of the Center for the Book, welcomed the visitors to the balloon-filled Mumford Room and reminded everyone that "Books Change Lives" was the Library's reading promotion theme for 1993-94.
Dr. Cole also introduced the master of ceremonies for the day, LaVar Burton, the host of "Reading Rainbow." The young audience enjoyed listening and quizzing the celebrity readers about the books they chose, which included The Wind in the Willows, Berlioz the Bear, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, The Story of Ferdinand, Grandfather Twilight, The Emperor's New Clothes and The Sneetches.
Reading Rainbow is a member of the Center for the Book's national reading promotion partnership program.