Texas State Library And Archives
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The Texas State Library and Archives Commission (TSLAC) refers to the agency in the state of
Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
that assists the people of Texas to effectively use information, archival resources, public records and library materials to improve their lives, the lives of their families, and their communities. The agency is charged with overseeing statewide library programs, meeting the reading-related needs of Texans with disabilities, and preserving and providing access to significant Texas documents. The Lorenzo de Zavala State Archives & Library Building, located at 1201 Brazos Street in the Capitol Complex in
Downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in North America by English speakers to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business distric ...
Austin Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...
, houses the Archives, the
Genealogy Genealogy () is the study of families, family history, and the tracing of their lineages. Genealogists use oral interviews, historical records, genetic analysis, and other records to obtain information about a family and to demonstrate kins ...
collection, a reference collection, the Talking Books offices, and the main administrative offices. The State Records Center and Talking Book Circulation Department, located elsewhere in Austin, which houses the State and Local Records Management Division and the Talking Book Program's circulation department; and the
Sam Houston Regional Library and Research Center The Sam Houston Regional Library and Research Center is located in unincorporated Liberty County, Texas. The facility is located north of Liberty, east of Downtown Austin and northeast of Downtown Houston. It is owned and operated by the Texas ...
, located near
Liberty, Texas Liberty is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, within Liberty County. The population was 8,279 at the 2020 census. It serves as the seat of Liberty County. Liberty is the third oldest city in the state—established in 1831 on the banks of ...
, which serves as a museum focusing on Southeast Texas and also houses a portion of the State Library's collection. The current Texas State Librarian is Gloria Meraz, appointed by the Texas State Library and Archives Commission on August 27, 2021. Meraz will be the first person of color and first Hispanic woman to serve as State Librarian of Texas since the position was created in 1909. She succeeded previous Texas State Librarian Mark Smith.


History

The Texas State Library was originally established as the National Library of the
Republic of Texas The Republic of Texas ( es, República de Tejas) was a sovereign state in North America that existed from March 2, 1836, to February 19, 1846, that bordered Mexico, the Republic of the Rio Grande in 1840 (another breakaway republic from Mex ...
on 24 January 1839 by a joint resolution of the Third
Congress of the Republic of Texas : ''For the current Texas legislative body, see Texas Legislature.'' The Congress of the Republic of Texas was the national legislature of the Republic of Texas established by the Constitution of the Republic of Texas in 1836. It was a bicameral ...
. $10,000 was designated for its use, though the ongoing bankruptcy of the Republic meant that no more than $250, spent on a set of encyclopedias, was used during this initial phase of development. After the annexation of
Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
to the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
in 1848, legislation was passed requiring copies of all important state-related documents to be transported to the
Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...
, other US state seats, or foreign powers, as deemed necessary. During this time, the Secretary of the State of Texas was to act as the state librarian. In 1854 an act was passed creating a separate library for the
Supreme Court of Texas The Supreme Court of Texas (SCOTX) is the court of last resort for civil matters (including juvenile delinquency cases, which are categorized as civil under the Texas Family Code) in the U.S. state of Texas. A different court, the Texas Court of ...
, and in 1855 $5000 was appropriated for the purchase of books for the State Library, though any major work done on the library was postponed until after the
American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...
. The office of State Librarian was officially established after the Civil War, and Robert Josselyn was the first appointment. The expenses pertaining to running or more fully establishing the library were seen as detrimental to the project of
Reconstruction Reconstruction may refer to: Politics, history, and sociology *Reconstruction (law), the transfer of a company's (or several companies') business to a new company *'' Perestroika'' (Russian for "reconstruction"), a late 20th century Soviet Unio ...
, however, and the library was again placed at the hands of the state department until 1876, when The Department of Insurance, Statistics, and History was established. The commissioner of this department was in charge of the State Library, and from 1877 to 1880 a large number of documents, including the Nacogdoches Archives, were transferred to the State Library. On 9 November 1881 a massive fire destroyed the Texas Capitol Building, where the library was housed, and ruined much of the collection. In 1891 construction of the present Capitol building was completed, and Governor
James S. Hogg James Stephen "Jim" Hogg (March 24, 1851March 3, 1906) was an American lawyer and statesman, and the List of Governors of Texas, 20th Governor of Texas. He was born near Rusk, Texas. Hogg was a follower of the conservativism, conservative New ...
created the office of historical clerk, adding a Spanish translator and an archivist to the staff two years later. In 1902 a Texas Library Association was organized, aided by the
Texas Federation of Women's Clubs The Texas Federation of Women's Clubs (TFWC) is a non-profit women's organization in Texas which was founded in 1897. The purpose of the group is to create a central organization for women's clubs and their members in Texas relating to education, ...
, and in 1909 legislation was obtained for the organization of the Texas State Library and Historical Commission (now the Texas State Library and Archives Commission). Not until 1957, when Gov. Marion Price Daniel, Sr. went before the Fifty-fifth Legislature and recommended that a building specifically for the State Library be erected, was there adequate housing for the growing collection. The present building, named for
Lorenzo de Zavala Manuel Lorenzo Justiniano de Zavala y Sanchez (October 3, 1788 - November 15, 1836), known simply as Lorenzo de Zavala, was a Mexican and later Tejano physician, politician, diplomat and author. Born in Yucatán under Spanish rule, he was clo ...
, was dedicated on April 10, 1962. Built of granite from the same quarry that supplied materials for the Texas State Capitol, the outer walls are made of sunset red granite. The building is 257 feet long, 77 feet wide, and 60 feet tall. It has five main floors and seven stack floors (the stacks are not open to the public). The three main collections open to public use are the Reference collection and Archives, both housed on the first floor, and the Genealogy collection, housed on the second.


Recent history

In 2011, during the
82nd Texas Legislature The 82nd Texas Legislature began on January 11, 2011 and ended on May 29, 2011. All members of the House and 16 of the 31 members of the Senate were elected in the general election held on November 2, 2010. Party summary Senate House of Represe ...
, governor
Rick Perry James Richard Perry (born March 4, 1950) is an American politician who served as the 14th United States secretary of energy from 2017 to 2019 and as the 47th governor of Texas from 2000 to 2015. Perry also ran unsuccessfully for the Republica ...
signed the state's biennial budget (for FY 2012 - 2013) that cut state funding for TSLAC by 64 percent and cut state funding for the agency’s library programs by 88 percent. Other state agencies experienced budget cuts as well, the result of a $27 billion shortfall in state finances. “Everybody is just shaking their heads because this is more drastic than any measures we’ve seen in the past, and I’ve been around Texas libraries for more than 40 years,” said Jerilynn Williams, president of the Texas Library Association. The agency took several actions as a result of these cuts: eliminated certain FTE positions; merged the two library-focused divisions to create the new Library Development and Networking Division; eliminated the Loan Star Libraries Grant Program of direct assistance to Texas public libraries; and eliminated 10 regional library systems. In 2013, during the 83rd Legislature, the state restored substantial state funding to TSLAC for the 2014-2015 biennial budget, including $7.5 million for digital content (additional funds for the statewide e-content program known as
TexShare The TexShare program is a statewide resource-sharing consortium of hundreds of member libraries in Texas, United States administered by the Texas State Library and Archives Commission (TSLAC). The TexShare program maximizes the effectiveness of libr ...
and for databases for K-12 schools), $600,000 for three FTE archivists, and $1 million for repairs to the Sam Houston Center in Liberty. Because of these gains, TSLAC was able to avert the loss of over $6.5 million in federal funds used to support statewide library services in the form of competitive library grants, interlibrary loan, and continuing education and consulting. Throughout 2014 the three public service areas in the Lorenzo de Zavala Building – the Texas State Archives, the Texas Family Heritage Research Center, and the Reference and Information Center—will be open the second Saturday of each month. In 2019, the library was used as a filming location for the
YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
interactive series ''
A Heist with Markiplier ''A Heist with Markiplier'' is a 2019 interactive comedy heist television special written and directed by Mark Fischbach, better known by his online pseudonym Markiplier. The film stars Fischbach, as well as Rosanna Pansino, Matthew Patrick, an ...
.''


See also

* Austin Public Library *
Houston Public Library Houston Public Library is the public library system serving Houston, Texas, United States. History Houston Lyceum and the Carnegie Library The Houston Public Library system traces its founding to the creation of the second Houston Lyceum in 18 ...
*
Dallas Public Library The Dallas Public Library system serves as the municipal library system of the city of Dallas, Texas (USA). History In 1899, the idea to create a free public library in Dallas was conceived by the Dallas Federation of Women's Clubs, led by pre ...
*
San Antonio Public Library The San Antonio Public Library (SAPL) is the public library system serving the city of San Antonio, Texas. It consists of a central library, 29 branch libraries (as of the fall of 2017), and a library portal. SAPL was awarded the National Medal for ...
*
Harris County Public Library Harris County Public Library (HCPL) is a public library system serving Harris County, Texas, United States. Since its inception in 1921, HCPL has grown from a system of small book stations in homes, stores and post offices to 26 branch librarie ...
*
Fort Worth Library Fort Worth Public Library is the public library system that serves the city of Fort Worth, Texas. The Fort Worth Public Libraries consist of 16 branches including the central library and two regional libraries. History In April 1892, 20 women ...
*
Alamo Area Library System The Alamo Area Library System (AALS) is one of ten public library systems in the U.S. state of Texas. It consists of 46 member libraries located in 21 counties that surround the city of San Antonio and Bexar County. The San Antonio Public Library ...


References


Further reading

* Gracy, David B., ''The State Library and Archives of Texas: A History'', 1835-1962 * Cummings, Jennifer, “‘How Can We Fail?’ The Texas State Library’s Traveling Libraries and Bookmobiles, 1916–1966,” ''Libraries and the Cultural Record,'' 44 (no. 3, 2009), 299–325.


External links

* * {{Authority control Libraries in Austin, Texas Library and Archives Commission, Texas State State archives of the United States State libraries of the United States Research libraries in the United States