News
The Texas Center for the Book is seeking qualified non-profit organizations that have made outstanding contributions to increasing literacy in Texas for the 2016 Texas Center for the Book Literacy Award. The winning organization will receive a $1,000 cash award to assist in its future work promoting reading and combating illiteracy. The award provides public recognition to 501(c)(3) organizations committed to addressing the continuing need for literacy services and that increase public awareness of the importance of literacy.
Science, technology, engineering, art and math take center stage alongside reading, writing, robots and more in the list of grant proposals recently approved by the Texas State Library and Archives Commission. Agency commissioners gave the green light to 73 library grant awards totaling $2.1 million for numerous Texas libraries, institutions of higher education, and related nonprofit organizations.
Gloria Meraz has been appointed Assistant State Librarian at the Texas State Library and Archives Commission. Her role at TSLAC will continue her long-standing efforts to support the provision of library and archival resources and services to state and local government, researchers, communities, and people across Texas. Prior to her new position at the agency, Meraz served as Director of Communications for 17 years at the Texas Library Association where she oversaw government relations, publications, and public relations.
The Texas Historical Records Advisory Board (THRAB) is pleased to announce the creation of the Archival Award of Excellence to recognize significant achievements in preserving and improving access to historical records in any format by a Texas archival institution and individual achievements.
THRAB is accepting nominations until mid-September with announcement of the institutional and individual recipients named in October during Texas Archives Month. The award is funded by a 2016 State Programming Board grant from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission.
The Texas State Library and Archives Commission (TSLAC) received a $200,000 grant from the Texas Workforce Commission to expand library engagement with local Adult Education and Literacy (AEL) programs. Funding from the grant will be used to expand efforts to provide adult education opportunities to the more than 4.3 million Texans who qualify for assistance.
Postcards were the E-mail, Facebook, and Instagram of their day providing glimpses into
individual lives and events. Led by postcard collector, writer, and lay historian Ken Wilson,
visitors will explore the resulting narratives captured in photographic postcards from the
minutiae of daily life, to disasters, to occasional mysteries.
This program coincides with the current TSLAC lobby exhibit, Wish You Were Here, which
Southeast Texas Postcard Collection Available Online
AUSTIN, TX- The Texas State Library and Archives Commission (TSLAC) announces new additions to its ever-growing online collections available through its TexShare and TexQuest electronic resource programs. In response to growing interest in focused learning in the fields of science, technology, engineering, arts, and math (STEAM) the agency has supplemented the latest resources from the leading names in online educational resources, all of which will be available on June 15, 2016. Resources include:
This April, Texans celebrate 20 years of Día de los Niño’s, Día de los Libros (Children’s Day, Book Day): a celebration of children, culture and literature. Texas Center for the Book coined the term Lone Star Día for Texas and encouraged statewide participation. Nationally, libraries, schools, churches and organizations are encouraged to discover “bookjoy” year-round and most events occur around Día’s birthday on April 30th.
Ten students have won the Texas portion of the 2016 Letters About Literature Competition, sponsored in part by the Texas Center for the Book. This national reading and writing program, initiated by the Library of Congress, gives 4th-12th graders a chance to write to an author (living or deceased) about how his or her book has affected their lives. Nationally, close to 50,000 students wrote letters and since 1997 more than a million students have participated.