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Annals of the Smithsonian Institution 1 999 



hospitals, Head Start and Even Start sites, Native American 

 reservations, migrant worker camps, detention centers, and 

 homeless shelters. Through a network of 240,000 volun- 

 teers, RIF teached more than 3.5 million children 

 nationwide. 



RIF's core activity is its National Book Program, which 

 provides motivation training and "seed money" for RIF pro- 

 gram coordinators to purchase new books at significant 

 discounts for free distribution to children. Building on that 

 strong foundation, RIF is poised to reach 5 million children 

 a year by the end of 2000. RIF places highest ptiority on 

 serving the nation's neediest children — those at greatest risk 

 of educational failure and economic hardship — with special 

 emphasis on serving children from birth to age 1 1 . 



RIF received a five-year grant from the U.S. Department 

 of Education's Star Schools Program to develop RIFNet, a 

 consortium that will create and disseminate technology- 

 based, multimedia training programs for parents, educatots, 

 and literacy volunteers to enable them to help children get 

 ready to read and become better readers. The network, oper- 

 ational in 2000, will deliver programs and training via 

 satellite and cable TV, the Internet, video, and CD-ROMs. 



RIF developed Care to Read, a series of workshops to pro- 

 vide resources and training to caregivers in child-care centers 

 and family-based day-care centers. Last year, Care to Read 

 was piloted at early childhood programs and day-care centers 

 in Delaware and Virginia. 



In 1998, RIF entered year two of a landmark, multiyeat 

 program actively supported by Delaware Governor Thomas 

 Carper and First Lady Martha Carper and the state's Depart- 

 ment of Education. The Delaware RIF Initiative provides 

 teacher training, literacy services, and books to every first- 

 grade classroom in Delaware's public schools and serves 

 every child enrolled in Head Start, Even Start, Early Child- 

 hood Assistance, and Parents-as-Teachers programs. 



RIF children across the country participated in our Na- 

 tional Reading Celebration through a series of events that 

 culminated in the annual Reading Is Fun Week in April. An 

 awards ceremony at the Capital Children's Museum in 

 Washington, D.C., honored national RIF Reader winner, 

 Harry Bates of Selma, Alabama, and winner of the National 

 Poster Contest, Jose Giraldo of New York. 



With a generous donation of 250,000 new books from 

 Scholastic, Inc., RIF launched a summer reading program in 

 Washington, D.C., that enabled every student in the city's 

 public elementary schools to select three free new books. The 

 program also created classroom libraries. RIF Chairman 

 Lynda Johnson Robb and President and Chief Executive Of- 

 ficer William E. Trueheart presided at the kickoff event with 

 Scholastic's President and Chief Executive Officer Richard 

 Robinson. Joining them were U.S. Secretary of Education 

 Richard W Riley, Sen. James Jeffords, Sen. Charles Robb, 

 Rep. Sheila Jackson-Lee, and District of Columbia Mayor 

 Anthony Williams and Superintendent of Schools Arlene 

 Ackerman. 



RIF also teamed with the Washington, D.C., Public Li- 

 brary to launch the library's summer reading program. The 

 program was made possible through RIF's parrnership with 



Best Buy, Inc., as part of the corporation's commitment to 

 America's Promise, chaired by retired General Colin Powell. 

 (America's Promise is dedicated to mobilizing individuals, 

 groups, and organizations from every part of American life to 

 build and strengthen the character and competence of 

 youth.) RIF Chairman Lynda Johnson Robb serves as vice- 

 chair of America's Promise. 



Woodrow Wilson International 

 Center for Scholars 



Lee H. Hamilton, Director 



As Washington, D.C.'s nonpartisan research institution ex- 

 amining important issues in the humanities, social sciences 

 and public policy, the Woodrow Wilson International Center 

 for Scholars holds a unique place in our nation. Established 

 by Congress in 1968 as the nation's memorial to our 28th 

 president, the Wilson Center provides a link between the 

 world of ideas and the world of policy making. Situated in 

 the Ronald Reagan Building on Pennsylvania Avenue, it is a 

 fitting place for the 150 scholars from all over the world who 

 visit the center each year to carry out research and interact 

 with Washington practitioners. 



The Wilson Center assembles policy makers, academi- 

 cians, members of Congress, scholars, and business and 

 national leaders in more than 300 conferences and meet- 

 ings per year. These lively events provide the public with 

 the opportunity to ask questions and explore new ideas 

 with academic and research and policy experts. The wide 

 array of topics covered this year included the effects of 

 C-SPAN on Congress and the political career of Slobodan 

 Milosevic. The center's renowned Kennan Institute for 

 Advanced Russian Studies celebrated its 25th anniversary 

 this year. 



The center is expanding its scope and activities, yet also 

 tying more of its work to a few central themes. Three themes 

 are key: the role of the United States in the world and issues 

 of leadership and partnership; governance; and long-term 

 challenges facing the United States and the world. 



Six new or expanded initiatives were launched this year. 

 First, a series of Director's Forums have brought more than a 

 dozen notable speakers to the Woodrow Wilson Center. Sit- 

 ting and former prime ministers, several ambassadors, 

 cabinet officials, members of Congress, and other officials 

 have spoken. The center has also begun a "Project on Sover- 

 eignty in the Digital Age," which is examining the 

 information revolution and its profound impact on the 

 global economy and on relations between governments and 

 the private sector. The project explores how to balance na- 

 tional sovereignty with the need for new international rules 

 in an age when the Internet and electronic commerce operate 

 both within and beyond national borders. In addition, the 

 center has started two new regional programs and expanded 

 a third. Projects on Canada and on Africa are new to the cen- 

 ter, and the Middle East Program is being expanded with a 



