Above, students at Magnolia ISD learn about Texas history from the Texas America250 traveling exhibit at their school.
Across Texas, thousands of Texans of all ages are participating in the Texas America250 Reading Challenge, and thousands more have viewed the Texas America250 traveling exhibit at their local library, school, or museum. Check out this Facebook album of many of the participants!
Join the Reading Challenge
The Texas Center for the Book and the Texas State Library and Archives Commission (TSLAC) invite Texans of all ages to participate in the statewide Texas America250 Reading Challenge (www.tsl.texas.gov/america250/challenge), which launched January 1 and continues through the end of the year.
Texans are invited to log 2,500 minutes (41.6 hours) of reading, state parks visits, and/or service activity before December 31, 2026. Upon completion of the Reading Challenge, participants are eligible to receive a special certificate from their public or school librarian.
As of July 8, 2026, 316 libraries from all over Texas have registered to be part of the Reading Challenge.
The numbers continue to be impressive: as of the end of June, there have been 5,400 individual downloads of the “Mosey Along the Reading Trail” reading log map, which participants can use to track their progress, and more than 4,100 downloads of the Reading Challenge FAQ. Both the reading trail map and the FAQ are available in English and Spanish.
There’s still time to join! Download a reading log map and FAQ to get started!
Learn more about the Reading Challenge in our latest Talking Book Program podcast here.
Many schools and libraries are offering incentives and prizes for readers who complete the challenge. In Ponder ISD in Denton County, for example, students are entered in a drawing to win one of two grand prizes and can win other awards as well.
A young patron at Archer Public Library proudly displays his Reading Challenge completion certificate.
Texas America250 Traveling Exhibit
Seven hundred sets of the Texas America250 traveling exhibit, highlighting some of TSLAC’s Texas treasures, have been shipped or hand-delivered to public libraries, schools, small museums, and other community organizations over the past year.
Many communities combined the exhibit display with local programming, with events and speakers teaching students and library patrons about Texas history.
Assistant State Librarian Tim Gleisner spoke with a TV news team about the Texas America250 exhibits and reading challenge: Texas’s role in formation of America | FOX 7 Austin.
The exhibits were warmly received by the exhibiting organizations (deliveries began in fall 2025 and continued through spring 2026. All exhibits have now been distributed.)
“I opened it tonight. They are beautiful!!!” wrote Linda Coker of the Hays County Historical Association.
“We look forward to displaying this exhibit proudly,” wrote Angie Anderson of the Harlingen Arts and Heritage Museum.
TSLAC offers many downloadable and printable posters, bookmarks, and other material supporting the exhibits. We’ve had a grand total of more than 40,000 downloads of these self-print materials!
Students at Palacios Library study the panels in the traveling exhibit.
Media Mentions
The Texas America250 exhibits and reading challenge have been mentioned in media articles more than 225 times; have been mentioned on social media more than 250 times; and have been featured on TV news stations around the state. Watch the KLBK piece from Lubbock.
Special thanks to The Summerlee Foundation, the Texas Library and Archives Foundation, and the Institute of Museum and Library Services for their support of our Texas America250 programming.