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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Austin, TX – Join the Texas Center for the Book (TCFB) on Wednesday, June 18 at 10 a.m. CDT for a free virtual book event! Kimberly Ridley and Rebekah Raye, the author and illustrator of the 2025 Texas Great Read for Youth, Matagorda Magic: The Hidden Life of a Texas Bay, will participate in a live #TXBookChat. They will be interviewed by Michele Chan Santos, TCFB Coordinator, about their gorgeous book that shares all the beauty and wonder of Texas’ Matagorda Bay and the creatures that live there.

Kimberly and Rebekah will do a live Q-and-A with webinar attendees at the con
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEThe Texas Historical Records Advisory Board (THRAB) invites nominations for its 2025 archival awards. THRAB grants awards in the categories of excellence, advocacy and distinguished service.  The Archival Award of Excellence honors archival institutions and individuals in Texas who have made significant achievements in preserving and improving access to historical records in any format. The Advocacy for Archives Award acknowledges an individual or organization that has made significant contributions to ensure the preservation and availability of Texas’s historical record. 

    Austin     2025 Texas Great Read Youth and Adult Selections Announced

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

The Texas Center for the Book at the Texas State Library and Archives Commission (TSLAC) is delighted to announce its Texas Great Read titles for 2025. The Center has chosen Matagorda Magic: The Hidden Life of a Texas Bay, written by Kimberly Ridley and illustrated by Rebekah Raye, as the 2025 Texas Great Read Youth Selection. Viva Texas Rivers! Adventures, Misadventures, and Glimpses of Nirvana along Our Storied Waterways, edited by Steven L. Davis and Sam L. Pfiester, is the 2025 Texas Great Read Adult Selection.

Every year, the Library of Congress asks each state Center

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Baylor University’s stunning Armstrong Browning Library & Museum, which is dedicated to the lives and works of famed Victorian poets Robert and Elizabeth Barrett Browning, is the subject of the newest Lone Star Libraries video and article, now available at www.tsl.texas.gov/lonestarlibraries.

Lone Star Libraries is a quarterly series from the Texas Center of the Book at the Texas State Library and Archives Commission that showcases and celebrates exceptional libraries across Texas with videos and articles exploring collections and exhibits, interviewing staff and sharing ti

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

The Sam Houston Regional Library and Research Center (SHC) welcomes historian Edward T. Cotham, Jr. for an author talk and book signing on Saturday, June 14 at 1 p.m. Cotham will discuss his book, Juneteenth: The Story Behind the Celebration, in conjunction with the traveling exhibit from Humanities Texas, Juneteenth, which opens June 3 at the Center.

Cotham wrote the first scholarly book on the history of Juneteenth and spent decades conducting research in archives across the nation to help separate myth from reality and tell the full story of the holiday. The author will


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

The Texas State Library and Archives Commission (TSLAC), in partnership with the Texas Facilities Commission (TFC), has today announced the groundbreaking of its new Archival and Records Storage Facility on Wednesday, May 7, 2025, at 10 a.m. on Riggins Bend Road in Pflugerville, Texas.

The new 242,000-square-foot facility will house TSLAC’s State and Local Record Management Division’s records storage and imaging center, the Archives and Information Services Division’s collection processing space and archival records storage, and the Talking Book Program’s circulation depart

    Liberty     Juneteenth Exhibit at the Sam Houston Center from June 3

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Beginning June 3, the Sam Houston Regional Library and Research Center (SHC) in Liberty, part of the Texas State Library and Archives Commission (TSLAC), will present Juneteenth, an exhibition by Humanities Texas, the state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

On June 19, 1865, Union General Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, Texas, to inform enslaved Black Americans they had been freed under the 1863 Emancipation Proclamation. This day came to be known as Juneteenth and is celebrated throughout the country as the day that marks freedom for all Black Am

    Liberty, TX     Sam Houston Center in Liberty to Host Family History Day on May 31


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

The Sam Houston Regional Library and Research Center (SHC), part of the Texas State Library and Archives Commission (TSLAC), will host its annual Family History Day for new and advanced genealogists on Saturday, May 31, 2025, from 9 a.m. to 12 noon. Presenters will explore the use of maps and land records for genealogical research.

Professional genealogist Teri E. Flack will teach attendees how to use maps to explore their ancestor’s lives and how to use property records to trace their family tree. TSLAC staff will share key map and land records available online and through

graphic reading Celebrated and learn our nation's history through your library!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

The Texas State Library and Archives Commission (TSLAC) is pleased to announce its Texas America250 programming in celebration of the United States Semiquincentennial on July 4, 2026, commemorating the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

Texans of all ages will be invited to join TSLAC’s statewide reading challenge and encouraged to visit their local libraries to view traveling exhibits on loan throughout 2026. These special exhibits highlight historically significant Texas Treasures from TSLAC’s collections. Programming throughout the year

    Liberty     Join the SHC Book Club for The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Liberty, TX – The SHC Quarterly Book Club will meet April 22 at the Sam Houston Regional Library and Research Center (SHC) to discuss the novel, The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson. The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek is a work of historical fiction featuring a central character who delivers library books to rural residents of Appalachia during the Depression. Join the group for this fun, free and informal gathering of readers from 6 – 7 p.m. No membership or registration required.

Featuring fictional works with a connection to the world of museum


Page last modified: May 11, 2026