Traci Reece, Reference Librarian

The Texas State Library and Archives Commission (TSLAC) Archives and Reference staff are pleased to welcome researchers back to our research rooms on Second Saturdays and throughout the week at our Lorenzo de Zavala building in Austin! We have exciting changes to share and look forward to helping with your research needs.

New Titles at the Library

Our staff have been busy processing new books and adding them to the catalog and the shelves at TSLAC. While many may know us for our historical collections of original documents in the State Archives, we are also home to the Texas State Library’s book collections. We regularly acquire titles about Texas, family history, US government documents, periodicals, and more through state and federal depository programs, librarian selections, and donations. The books in our library collections are available for on-site research, with many titles also available for checkout from our library and through interlibrary loan (ILL). Contact your local library about ILL or contact the Reference Desk for availability. Typically, books that are not available for check-out will have a note in the catalog record that reads “non-circulating.” Our staff is happy to provide information about circulation procedures and other library services.

So, what’s new? Here’s a brief sample of some of the recently added titles currently on display in our Reference Reading Room:

Title	Author	Call number	Collection
African American lawmen, 1867-1877. Volume 1	Mboma, Lievin Kambamba	363.23089 M459a	Main
The art of Texas : 250 years	Tyler, Ronnie C.	709.764 AR75 ARTS OVER-T	Reference
Bluffing Texas style : the arsons, forgeries, and high-stakes poker capers of rare book dealer Johnny Jenkins	Vinson, Michael	381.45 V786BL	Main
Cult of glory : the bold and brutal history of the Texas Rangers	Swanson, Doug J.	363.209 SW24c	Main
Don’t count the tortillas : the art of Texas Mexican cooking	Medrano, Adán	Z TT422.8 M469do	Texas Documents
Friday night lives : photos from the town, the team, and after	Clark, Robert	Z UA380.8 C549fi	Texas Documents
Gone at 3:17 : the untold story of the worst school disaster in American history	Brown, David M.	373.764 B812g	Main
The heartbeat of Wounded Knee : native America from 1890 to the present	Treuer, David	970.004 T726h	Main
How Myth Became History: Texas exceptionalism in the borderlands	Dean, John Emory	810.9 D345h	Main
Let the Lord sort them : the rise and fall of the death penalty	Chammah, Maurice	364.66 C357L	Main
Lone star vistas : Travel writing on Texas, 1821-1861	Haas, Astrid	Z UA380.8 H111Lo	Texas Documents
Reverberations of racial violence : critical reflections on the history of the border	Hernández, Sonia	Z UA380.8 R323	Texas Documents
The southern exodus to Mexico : migration across the borderlands after the American Civil War	Wahlstrom, Todd W.	Z TA475.8 W127so	Texas Documents

Explore more new titles at TSLAC by browsing our online library catalog. The catalog includes a link to Newly Added Titles with a list of recent additions to the collections.

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Second Saturdays

Beginning in January, TSLAC will welcome patrons into the Reference and State Archives reading rooms each second Saturday in 2022. Second Saturdays are a great opportunity to catch up on your genealogy or research projects, and our staff are here to help. Both reading rooms will be open to the public from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on the following days:

2022 Second Saturday Dates
January 8	April 9	July 9	October 8
February 12	May 14	August 13	November 12
March 12	June 11	September 10	December 10

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Reading Rooms

The State Archives and Reference reading rooms are open to the public from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Monday through Friday and for our Second Saturday hours. Library materials and public computers with internet access are available in the Reference Reading Room. No registration or appointments are required, but we do appreciate advance notice and scheduling an appointment if you will be accessing archival materials. We have an FAQ on our website for standard questions about research at TSLAC and the Before You Visit page contains a lot of helpful information.

New Topics and Time for the Friday Research Webinars in 2022

Our Research Webinar series continues every fourth Friday of the month, with a new slate of topics for 2022 and a new time. Research webinars on newspapers, African American genealogy, maps, the Sam Houston Regional Library and Research Center, the Texas Digital Archive, and the Republic of Texas will take place via Zoom at 3:00 p.m. on scheduled Fridays. The first webinar of 2022 will take place on January 28 on the subject of newspapers. Join our Reference staff as they present these 20-minute live webinars or view recorded sessions on our webpage and YouTube channel. Sign up in advance and come with your questions! Visit our Research Webinars page to preview the schedule, register to attend, or to watch past recorded sessions.

Robust Remote Services

If you are unable to visit us on-site, our digital collections and databases are available online 24/7.  Reference staff are also available to provide remote reference services via phone at 512-463-5455 and email at ref@tsl.texas.gov. Many of the TSLAC resources available to you from home are listed on our website. An Out of the Stacks blog post from 2020 offers a closer look at our remote services with the article, Reference and Research Assistance at the Ready: Remote Services Are Here for You.

Visit our website for information about reference services at our library. Check our Agency Calendar for special events and dates our building will be closed.

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We look forward to seeing our visitors in person!

ref@tsl.texas.gov / 512-463-5455 / www.tsl.texas.gov/reference

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