Mill Creek Elementary School will receive a $5,000 grant from the Laura Bush Foundation for America’s Libraries and will use the gift to buy as many books for the school’s collection as possible.

"Our goal is to empower our Mill Creek Mustangs to be literary explorers," Jeneane Brown, the school's media specialist, said. "This begins with the excitement of picking up a good book. All of the funds will be spent on books, which supports our literacy goals."

Mill Creek is one of 220 schools from 38 states across the country who received grants from the Bush Foundation this year. Brown applied for the grant and plans to use it to update the nonfiction section of the media center.

Brown views Mill Creek's media center as the heart and soul of the school.

"We do so much more than circulation," she said. "We host events, custom classes, activities, book fairs and themed programming throughout the school year. We also partner with local literacy giants, the Statesboro-Bulloch County Library, and Galactic Comics and Games, to amplify our students’ enthusiasm for reading.”

Mill Creek Elementary School is the sixth largest of Bulloch County Schools' nine elementary schools, with slightly more than 600 students in Pre-Kindergarten through fifth grade.

For 2025, the Laura Bush Foundation for America’s Libraries has awarded more than $1 million in library grants. The funds will help school libraries update and diversify their collections of books, e-books and magazines.

"Books have the power to spark curiosity and inspire lifelong learning," Bush said in a statement released by the Foundation. "We are thrilled to provide these grants so that librarians can refresh their shelves – opening the door for students to discover new interests and endless adventures."

Since its inception in 2002, Bush’s foundation has awarded $23 million to more than 4,000 schools across the country. Learn more at bushcenter.org/laurabushfoundation and www.bushcenter.org.