Press Release — The Texas State Library & Archives Commission (TSLAC) recently awarded funding to the Brownwood Public Library under three of its grant programs, including the Impact Grant, Special Projects Grant and TexTreasures Grant.
With the Impact Grant, Brownwood Public Library will provide outreach to babies. Beginning early 2018, the library will start Mother Goose on the Loose baby storytime. This will be a fun-filled thirty minute interactive session that uses rhymes, songs, puppets, musical instruments and more to stimulate the learning process of babies. The library will also start a 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten program. This program encourages parents and caregivers to read with their children, birth to pre-kindergarten. While the 1,000 books goal may seem immense, if a parent reads just one bedtime story every night for three years, ten books a week for two years, or twenty books a week for one year, they’ll reach the goal! The rewards are immense in terms of preparing children to start school.
With the TexTreasures Grant, the Brownwood Library will work with The Brownwood Bulletin and Pecan Valley Genealogical Society to preserve Brownwood history. Over the course of the project, 18 years of archives (from 1905-1950) from The Brownwood Bulletin will be added to UNT’s Portal to Texas History. From here, residents and researchers from around the world can search by keyword. This is especially important because for some of these years, only one known copy of this vital local history exists.
Finally, for the Special Projects Grant, the Brownwood Public Library will partner with local organizations, including local shop classes and the Pecan Valley Kiwanis Club to install 18 Little Free Libraries around Brown County. These little libraries operate on an honor system and will provide access to books to those who may not be able to get into the main library. There are currently two Little Free Libraries in Brown County, one at the Family Services Center in Brownwood and one at Riverside Park Apartments in Early.
These projects are just three of 67 made possible this year by a grant from the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services to the Texas State Library and Archives Commission under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act. “Communities in every corner of Texas will benefit from the resources that have been made available through this list of forward-thinking grant proposals,” said TSLAC Director and Librarian Mark Smith.
For the 2018 fiscal year, which runs from September 1, 2017, to August 31, 2018, TSLAC has awarded approximately $2.1 million in competitive grants. “The ideas formed in these grants align directly with our agency mission to ensure that citizens have access to the information they need to lead informed, productive, and fulfilled lives,” comments Smith.
The Impact Grant provides seed funds up to $10,000 to applications in three focus areas: business/workforce development and digital literacy; family and early childhood literacy; and electronic content access and delivery. Brownwood Public Library is one of 19 libraries to be awarded the grant for 2018. The TexTreasures Grant will provide assistance and encouragement to 13 libraries to provide access to their special or unique collections and to make information about those collections available to library users across the state, including Brownwood Library’s project to digitize The Brownwood Bulletin. The Special Projects Grant supports programs seeking to expand library services to include all members of a library’s community, including those populations with special needs. “We have given the green light to some truly powerful proposals designed to offer Texans the tools necessary to meet the ever-changing needs of the future,” stated Texas State Library and Archives Commissioner Chairman, Michael C. Waters.
“The Brownwood Library has been a foundational part of the Brownwood community since 1904,” said library director Becky Isbell. “There is so much we offer for our community, but so much more we want to be doing. These grants from the IMLS and TSLAC will create even greater resources and opportunities for our community.”
ABOUT THE TEXAS STATE LIBRARY AND ARCHIVES COMMISSION
Formed in 1909, TSLAC is committed to giving Texans access to information and programs to improve their lives and communities. TSLAC provides historical and genealogical search assistance, federal and state government documents, electronic research and library services to all Texans, including those who are unable to read standard print material because of physical or reading disabilities. For more information, visit www.tsl.texas.gov.
