“Right near your home, year-in and year-out, a community college is quietly—and with very little financial encouragement—saving lives and minds," Poet Laureate Kay Ryan has said. "I can’t think of a more efficient, hopeful or egalitarian machine, with the possible exception of the bicycle.

"It is at a community college that a student can progress all the way from learning to read to learning to read poetry."

Ryan has launched a national poetry project that embraces community colleges through an online poetry page "Poetry for the Mind’s Joy" and a poetry-writing contest. The project, in conjunction with the Community College Humanities Association, also designates April 1 as National Poetry Day on Community College Campuses. On that day, the Poet Laureate will appear in a live videoconference with representatives at selected community college campuses.  This event will also be streamed live to the web and will demonstrate the online possibilities available for educational institutions working with the Library of Congress.

Ryan, the 16th Poet Laureate, taught remedial English part-time for 30 years at the College of Marin in Kentfield, Calif., which helped her develop a deep appreciation for the role community colleges play in making education accessible throughout the nation.

Other Poets Laureate who established projects during their tenure at the Library are Robert Pinsky (1997 to 2000), who initiated the "Favorite Poem Project"; Billy Collins (2001 to 2003), who started "Poetry 180" for high school students; and Ted Kooser (2004 to 2006), who established the "American Life in Poetry" newspaper column.

Ryan has also presented several readings at the Library, including the 2008 and 2009 National Book Festivals.