“The Texas Book Festival believes in the power of libraries to educate, enrich, and delight individuals in their communities,” says Lois Kim, executive director of the Texas Book Festival. “Our goal through our library grants is to improve free, year-round access to high quality books for Texans across the state.”
AUSTIN—The Texas Book Festival (TBF) announced the winners of its 2019 Texas Library Grants at the Texas Library Association conference in Austin today. Forty-one public libraries across thirty-six Texas counties received grants totaling $100,500.
TBF’s Texas Library Grants support collection enhancements which allow public libraries to meet the unique and varied needs of their communities by updating, improving, and expanding the variety of the books offered to their patrons.
Enriching Community Libraries With Grant Funds
The 2019 grants target a mix of needs in communities across the state. Several libraries will use their 2019 Texas Book Festival grant to expand their collection of Spanish and bilingual books—such as the Brookshire Pattinson Library in Waller County, which requested Spanish-language books for all ages to meet a demand for new books in Spanish as parents are inspired by their kids’ love of reading.
Denison Library's grant is focused on diversifying their collections by adding more books by multicultural authors. “Our patrons have little access to books by Native American authors, and with the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma less than twenty miles away, we realized our book collection was completely inadequate in this area,” says Kimberly Murray, Library Director at Denison Library. “Our collection should reflect and serve the needs and interests of everyone that comes through the doors.”
Murray also plans to add more books by and featuring Latinx, African American, and Muslim people in the library’s continued efforts to combat prejudice. “This grant will allow us to bring a richness and variety of stories to patrons that would not usually encounter these authors.”
The Terrell County Library is a first-time Texas Library Grant recipient. With recent budget cuts that have left them with only one full-time staff member and the next closest library sixty-four miles away, grant funds to purchase more than two hundred new books for children and teens will help fill out an outdated and incomplete children’s section
“The Texas Book Festival believes in the power of libraries to educate, enrich, and delight individuals in their communities,” says Lois Kim, executive director of the Texas Book Festival. “Our goal through our library grants is to improve free, year-round access to high quality books for Texans across the state.”
2019 Texas Book Festival Library Grant Recipients:
1. Temple Public Library
2. Cedar Park Public Library
3. Friends of the Round Rock Public Library
4. Polk-Wisdom Library
5. Terrell County General Fund
6. Dr. Hector P. Garcia Memorial Library
7. McAllen Public Library
8. Mineola Memorial Library
9. Maribelle M. Davis Library
10. City of Lancaster Veterans Memorial Library
11. Cockrell Hill Library
12. Lewisville Public Library
13. Hutto Public Library
14. Whitehouse Community Library
15. Corsicana Public Library
16. North Branch Library
17. Marlin Public Library
18. Marathon Public Library
19. J.R. Huffman Public Library
20. Palestine Public Library
21. Dublin Public Library Board
22. Leon Valley Public Library
23. Garden Ridge Library
24. Pflugerville Public Library
25. Carl and Mary Welhausen Library
26. Denison Public Library
27. Charlotte Public Library
28. Henderson County Clint W. Murchison Memorial Library
29. Arlington Public Library
30. Fannie Brown Booth Memorial Library
31. Grand Saline Public Library
32. Sarah Bain Chandler Public Library
33. El Paso Public Library
34. Judy B. McDonald Public Library
35. Brookshire Pattison Library
36. Friends of the Longview Public Library
37. Leadership Academy Library
38. Whitesboro Public Library
39. Buna Public Library
40. Roberta Bourne Memorial Library
41. Cleburne Public Library
Since the Texas Book Festival’s founding in 1995, a key part of its mission has been to promote Texas libraries and literacy. Each year, proceeds raised at the annual festival through book sales and individual, corporate, and foundation sponsorships fund the festival’s Texas Library Grants. Over $3 million has been awarded to more than eight hundred libraries across Texas.
Applications for the 2019-20 public library grant cycle will be available in December 2019. For more information, visit http://www.texasbookfestival.org/library-grants/.
With a vision to inspire Texans of all ages to love reading, the Texas Book Festival connects authors and readers through experiences that celebrate the culture of literacy, ideas, and imagination. Founded in 1995 by former First Lady Laura Bush, Mary Margaret Farabee, and a group of volunteers, the nonprofit Texas Book Festival promotes the joys of reading and writing through its annual festival weekend, the Texas Teen Book Festival, the Reading Rock Stars Title I elementary school program, the Real Reads Title I middle and high school program, grants to Texas libraries, and year-round literary programming. The festival is held on the grounds of the Texas Capitol each fall and features more than 275 renowned authors, panels, book signings, cooking demonstrations, and children’s activities. The 2019 Texas Book Festival Weekend will take place October 26-27. Thanks to generous donors, sponsors, and a thousand volunteers, the festival remains free and open to the public. Visit www.texasbookfestival.org for more information, and join the conversation using the hashtag #txbookfest on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram @texasbookfest.
