Tag Archives: General Announcements

Season’s Greetings!

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Text reads "Season's Greetings from the staff of the Texas State Library and Archives Commission."
Season’s greetings from all of us at TSLAC.

Thank you all for everything you did to serve your communities during this challenging year! In the words of State Librarian Mark Smith, “it is a challenging time to be in public service. But we will get through this together, and we will survive.The public has an enduring need for what libraries offer: a stable and beloved social institution, open to all on equal terms, providing authoritative access to life-saving, life-affirming information.”

Thank you for all that you do! Wishing you, your families, your coworkers, and your communities a safe and happy holiday season.

Summer Meals at Libraries Update

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Apples with water on them; Photo by Shelley Pauls on Unsplash
Photo by Shelley Pauls on Unsplash

If you weren’t able to attend the webinar Feeding Your Community: Summer Meals at Libraries webinar, co-produced by the Collaborative Summer Library Program and the USDA Food and Nutrition Service, the recording is available here: youtu.be/Q6Ig_zo1tj4

The USDA has extended temporary waivers that permit SFSP sites to provide grab-and-go meals/snacks and allow parents to pick meals up for their children. Other waivers are also in place to facilitate food distribution under social distancing guidelines. The need will be exceptionally great this year, and some previous SFSP sites may be unavailable for various reasons related to the public health emergency.

If your library is already an SFSP site, work with your current sponsor. If you want to become an SFSP site: contact your local school district, an SFSP sponsor in your area, or your state’s SFSP administering agency. For Texas specific resources, visit the Texas Department of Agriculture’s website; they have developed a COVID-19 FAQ page. You can also view resources on the Texas State Library’s Summer Lunch at the Library page.

In addition, the Collaborative Summer Library Program (CSLP) offers Libraries and Summer Food, a thorough, clear how-to guide for libraries: www.cslpreads.org/libraries-and-summer-food/ (please note this guide assumes ordinary circumstances and has not been revised for the current public health emergency).

TSLAC reaffirms its longstanding commitment to equality and opposing racism (Mark Smith’s “The Director’s Report”)

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Last week, Texas State Library and Archives Commission Director Mark Smith shared his blog post titled “TSLAC reaffirms its longstanding commitment to equality and opposing racism.” We wanted to share his blog post with our readers, along with the following statement from the Texas State Library and Archives Commission:

The staff of the Texas State Library and Archives Commission are dedicated to honoring our responsibility as public servants to maintain the highest standards of professionalism and respect for all people. Libraries and archives have a long history of working to provide equitable access to resources and services for all communities and to safeguard the primary history of important events. The imperative to build on this work continues and is infused with a renewed sense of urgency. We recognize that as witnesses to this historic moment in our national narrative, we are all also participants. We, as individuals, stand in solidarity with all persons seeking justice and an end to racism or any practice that undermines the inherent worth of any human life.

Spread the word – not the germs!

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The Texas State Library has received inquiries about resources and tips in preparing your libraries for CoViD-19 (the novel Coronavirus). We all want to keep our patrons and ourselves healthy. In addition to staying calm, providing reliable information to your colleagues and your community is an important aspect of addressing concerns over the CoViD-19 (the Coronavirus).

Here are some resources to assist and share:

IMPACT Libraries Recruiting for Interviews

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Sharing for our friends at IMPACT Libraries. Please refer all questions about this to them at impact@umd.edu. You can see their full post here.

“We are currently conducting research on Computational Thinking (CT) programming for youth ages 11-18 in libraries and other informal learning spaces such as community centers. We are working to develop a bank of assessment tools that can be used to measure the success of CT programming. If you have hosted a CT program at your institution or are planning to offer a program in the near future, we would like to interview you to learn more about your experiences in CT programming and what CT assessment tools we can create to enhance the impact of your programs.

If you would like to sign up for a virtual interview, please complete the form found here.

All participants will receive $25 Amazon gift card for participating. 

Have questions? Contact the research team at impact@umd.edu.”

Rule Review Posted

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The Texas State Library and Archives Commission has posted a notice related to Library Development in the December 14, 2018 edition of the Texas Register.

TSLAC has filed a notice of intent to review and consider for readoption, revision, or repeal of the rules in Chapter 1 of the Texas Administrative Code, Title 13, Part 1, related to Library Development. The notice of review can be found on page 8155 at https://www.sos.state.tx.us/texreg/pdf/backview/1214/1214is.pdf .

This review is conducted pursuant to Texas Government Code §2001.039, which requires rule review every four years. Comments should be directed to Jennifer Peters, Director of Library Development and Networking, TSLAC, P.O. Box 12927, Austin, Texas 78711, by fax at or jpeters@tsl.texas.gov. Written comments from the general public must be received within 30 days of the publication of this notice in the Texas Register.