Grants, awards, and donors

FYE 2002 (10/1/03 - 9/30/04)

The Austin Public Library and its support organizations, the Austin Public Library Foundation, the Friends of the Austin Public Library, and the Austin History Center Association receive grants and awards for the enhancement of programs and equipment for the Library. The following is a partial list of some of the recent awards received on behalf of the Library.

The Austin Public Library Foundation, the City of Austin, and Michael and Susan Dell have joined forces to make major improvements to services for youth in the Library. The Dells pledged $500,000 to create 10 Wired for Youth computer centers in east and south Austin branch libraries and the Faulk Central. These centers will ensure more Austin youths have access to technology and the Internet as a tool for learning. The City has committed funds for staff and operations for the centers, and the Austin Public Library Foundation has pledged to raise an additional $500,000 for children's books and holdings system-wide.

Other partners in these efforts to raise money for books for children are the ECG Foundation, Bank of America, Barnes and Noble Booksellers, CC's Coffee House, American Constructors, Over the Rainbow Toys, HEB Bucks for Books, and more than 175 individuals. Bucks for Books is the annual HEB Grocery Company promotion for libraries in Central Texas. HEB shoppers can contribute to their local library system when they purchase groceries by adding $1 or more to their grocery bill. The 2000 Bucks for Books campaign will begin August 15.

The Dell Foundation donated $22,000 in equipment for public access at the Carver, Riverside Drive, and Little Walnut Creek branches. The donation is in conjunction with the Dell's initiative "Preparing Youth for a Digital World."

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has awarded $183,950 to the Austin Public Library Foundation for expanded and enhanced Internet access and computers in the Library. The funds will be used to purchase 77 new computers and 17 printers for public Internet access at the Faulk Central Library, the Austin History Center, and 15 branch facilities.

Thanks to a donation from IBM, customers at the Faulk Central Library can enjoy a computer-based, interactive tour of Michelangelo's Florentine Pieta. The donation to the Austin Public Library Foundation includes a touch-screen computer, software, and funds for a cabinet which are located on the 2nd floor of the Faulk Central Library, 800 Guadalupe Street and will be on display in other library locations later this year.

The RGK Foundation awarded funding for the Austin Libraries for the Future, (ALFF) a blue-ribbon task force to research how the Austin Public Library can better meet the needs of the community today and tomorrow. ALFF, in conjunction with the University of Texas Graduate School of Library and Information Science, has conducted focus groups, intercept surveys, telephone surveys, and key leader interviews to gather input on future direction for the Library.

The Día de los Niños/Día de los Libros celebration in April 2000 received financial support from the Dell Foundation, the Tapestry Foundation, Harcourt Brace Publishing, Bank of America, and the American Association for the Education of the Young Child. Día de los Niños also received the Hotho, Highsmith, and Mora awards for outstanding children's programs.

The Austin History Center Association received a grant from the Austin Community Foundation to fund the continuation of an oral history transcription project. These oral histories provide researchers with first-hand accounts of Austin's early days. From growing up on Hornsby Bend in the first decade of the 20th century to descriptions of the construction of the MoPac highway in the 1970s, the interviews also describe the experiences of African-Americans and Mexican-Americans growing up in Austin and urban renewal efforts that displaced many families.

The Austin History Center also received funding from the Summerlee Foundation to sponsor the original research of David Humphrey for his full-length biography of Thomas William "Pegleg" Ward, three-time mayor of Austin in mid-1800s. Mr. Humphrey, who is the author of two previous books about Austin history, will conduct research about Ward in repositories in Dublin (Ireland), New Orleans, Houston, and Austin, in addition to Washington, D.C. where the author lives. The book will be published by the Texas State Historical Association, and all research materials collected by Mr. Humphrey will be donated to the archives of the Austin History Center. This will allow future researchers to have access to widely scattered documents about Mayor Ward in a centralized and appropriate research facility.

See recent grants.