Recent grants, awards, and donors

The Austin Public Library is fortunate to have terrific support groups that advocate and raise money for the Library.

The Austin Public Library Foundation was founded in 1995 by a group of volunteers committed to building a broad base of support for Austin's libraries. The Foundation works to increase awareness about the Library and its importance to the community and raises funds through individual gifts, corporate sponsorships, and foundation grants. These funds are used to provide programs, equipment, and holdings in the Austin Public Library. For additional information about the Foundation visit http://www.austinlibrary.org/ or call (512) 542-0076.

The Friends of the Austin Public Library is comprised of volunteers dedicated to the support of the Austin Public Library. The organization started in 1962 to strengthen and enlarge the number of Austin citizens who take an interest in the Library's activities and to the promotion of reading and literacy in the community. The Friends raise money through ongoing and annual book sales and through memberships to the Friends organization. For additional information about the Friends visit http://www.austinlibrary.org/ or call (512) 440-1241.

From fiscal years 2003 to 2005, more than $580,000 in private gifts supplemented the Library budget, providing additional Library services such as books, equipment, and children's programs. “These additional services and programs allow the Library to better serve the Austin community and strengthen the Austin Public Library system, says Brenda Branch, Director of Libraries. “We thank the Friends, Foundation and the grant sponsors for acknowledging our efforts and contributing to making APL more effective.”

From 2004 through 2005 the Friends of APL contributed $63,000. This money supports programs and items such as: Summer Reading Program, Mayor's Book Club, Adult author programs, Talk Time (Engish conversation practice program), furniture and fixtures and staff professional development.

Below are highlights from the awards to the Austin Public Library Foundation from 2003 through 2005:

FYE 2004 (10/1/03 - 9/30/04)

Wired for Youth/Cyberlifeguard: In 1999, the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation offered the Austin Public Library Foundation a challenge grant of $500,000. The Dell Foundation's funding established ten Michael & Susan Dell Wired for Youth technology centers at Library branches throughout the community in areas with large populations of at-risk teens and pre-teens. The Wired for Youth Program was designed to help bridge the “digital divide” for youth who are least likely to have access to personal computers and technology. Through the Cyberlifeguard Program, the Library hires part-time mentors to keep the centers open longer hours in the summer and during the school year, expanding the capacity of the Wired for Youth Centers and offering more special programs and classes.

The Michael & Susan Dell Foundation pledged an additional $50,251 to the program. Applied Materials also donated $12,000 to the Cyberlifeguards program, as did the Austin Community Foundation, which provided $9,700. A Connected Communities grant from the Dell Foundation ($50,000 pledged over two years) was also instrumental in making it possible for the Austin Public Library to hire part-time Cyberlifeguards at the Wired for Youth Centers.

Eager to Learn: The Eager to Learn program is a collaborative effort on the part of youth services programs throughout the Austin community. The Austin Public Library offered special Storytimes and other outreach efforts through this program.

The Austin Project, a federal funding source, provided $8,586.22 for this project.

Mayor's Book Club: The Mayor's Book Club is a community-wide project designed to emphasize the importance of reading and to build community. Everyone in Austin is invited to read the same book.

Texas Gas Service donated $5,000 to this project.

Ruiz Branch Multi-language Collection: Tokyo Electron donated $1,000 for this branch.

Summer Reading Program: Family literacy services are the cornerstone of everyday life at the Austin Public Library and are central to the delivery of youth services. The Summer Reading Program engenders a lifelong love of books and information in the children who participate. The program begins in late May and ends in early August. The objectives of the Austin Public Library's Summer Reading Program are to attract children and their parents to the Austin Public Library and make them aware of the rich resources it has to offer and to introduce children to reading at an early age and help them develop a love of literature in order to promote literacy and success in school.

H-E-B, donated $2,500 for this important program.

Storytime Connection: Being read to is an important first step in learning to read. Many of the preschool children who need reading readiness cannot attend Library programs. As young children of Austin's working families, they are in childcare centers during the day, and many centers do not have the resources for trips to the Library. Storytime Connection volunteers bring Storytime once a week to childcare centers in low-income neighborhoods, giving kids critical reading readiness experiences.

The Dell Foundation pledged $25,000 for this program, as did the Topfer Foundation, which donated $15,000. Target also donated $2,500 to Storytime Connection.

Target donated an additional $2,500 for Children's Book Week and $4,000 for Youth Programming.

The Junior League of Austin donated $43,000 to the Library Foundation for Storytime Connection support.

New Immigrants Project: In 1999 the Austin Public Library responded to Austin's increasingly diverse population by developing the New Immigrants Project, creating four centers at location in neighborhoods with heavy concentrations of new immigrants. Clients study English with books, audiocassettes, videos, and computer programs and access the Internet. They attend classes on basic computer skills and English free of charge.

The Rachael and Ben Vaughan Foundation donated $2,500 to the New Immigrants program.

VICTORY Tutorial: VICTORY Tutorial, a partnership between the City of Austin and the Austin Independent School District, links volunteers with students at branches of the Austin Public Library. Volunteers in Communities Tutoring Our Responsible Youth “VICTORY” offers free tutoring to students in grades 1 - 12 at designated branches of the Austin Public Library. Students are matched on a 1:1 basis with volunteers from the greater Austin community. The student/tutor pairs meet at regularly scheduled sessions in the library for a minimum of an hour each week to work on homework assignments and skills for which the student needs extra reinforcement and practice. Tutoring sessions are held in the late afternoon or early evening Monday through Thursday.

The Weinert Foundation donated their annual gift of $2,000 to this fund.

Terrazas Branch's Spanish Language Youth Collection: The Long Foundation donated $3,500 to this branch.

The Austin Public Library Foundation is supported with donations for operations from corporations, foundations, and individuals like you. Special thanks to: The Michael & Susan Dell Foundation $30,000, the James R. Dougherty Foundation, $1,000 donation. Frost National Bank $1,500, Harcourt, Inc., $1,000; Milton, Burton, Foster & Collins, $1,000; and Locke, Liddell & Sapp, $1,000.

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Texas Book Festival
Every year the Texas Book Festivals awards Texas libraries grants to enhance library collections. Since it's inception in 1996 the Texas Book Festival has awarded over $1.8 million in total grant funds to Texas public libraries.

Austin Public Library has been awarded several thousands of dollars from the TX Book Festival. The funds were used to enhance the collection at the following libraries:

In 2004:
Faulk Central -Early Literacy books	$2500
Spicewood Springs Branch-Texas History	$2500
Howson Branch-Graphic Novels	$2500
Ruiz Branch-Young Adult and Youth collection	$2500
Literacy Initiative- Interns for outreach to immigrant populations.	$5000
Total	$15,000

FYE 2005 (10/1/04 - 9/30/05)

Wired for Youth/Cyberlifeguard: The Michael & Susan Dell Foundation continued their support of this program with a three-year grant of $150,000. Applied Materials also donated $10,000.

Mayor's Book Club: Texas Gas Service again donated $5,000 to the Mayor's Book Club. W3 Data, Inc. donated $430.

Eager to Learn: The Austin Project, a federal funding source, continued to provide support for this project. This year they donated funds totaling $15,209.55.

Cepeda Music Garden: The Cepeda Music Garden project is intended to recognize the contribution of East Austin musicians and to raise awareness about this important aspect of the City's musical history. The master plan includes a “Wall of Fame” honoring African American and Latino East Austin musicians as well as improved landscaping, pedestrian amenities and a small amphitheater. Funding for this project came from the following:

SBC Foundation — $2,500; CDM — $500; Southwest Strategies Group, Inc. — $200; Greater Austin Transportation Co. — $2,500; Capital Metro — $1,000; Pedro SS Services, Inc. — $2,500; URS - $1,000; H-E-B — $1,000; Ray Reese Contractors — $1,000; Earth Tech — $1,000; Wells Fargo — $1,000; City of Austin — $2,500.

Summer Reading Program: H-E-B continued their support of this program with $2,500.

Día de los Niños/Day of the Child: The Día de los Niños is an annual celebration through Mexico that recognizes children, pays homage to their importance in society, and endorses their well-being. The goals of the program are: 1) to promote family sharing of books, reading and learning; 2) to increase family awareness of community resources that provide shared literacy/learning opportunities for parents and children; 3) to celebrate culture and heritage as powerful tools in promoting learning and communication within families.

The Austin American-Statesman donated $3,000 to this project, while the Austin Children's Museum donated $2,500. Frito Lay donated $500.

Network (technology)Hardware Upgrades: The SBC Foundation gave $15,000 for hardware upgrades.

Buy One for the Library: Whitepages.com donated $10,000.

VICTORY Tutorial: The Weinert Foundation again donated their annual gift of $2,000 to this fund.

Southeast Austin Community Branch: The Wal-Mart Foundation donated $1,200 to the Southeast Branch

Little Walnut Creek Branch: IBM donated $1,000.

The Austin Public Library Foundation is supported with donations from corporations, foundations, and individuals like you. Special thanks to: Harcourt Inc. donated $1,000; Graves, Dougherty, Hearon & Moody, $1,000; Krafts Food Global, Inc., $1,000; and AvenueOne Properties, $200.

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Texas Book Festival Grants:

Every year the Texas Book Festivals awards Texas libraries grants to enhance library collections. Since it's inception in 1996 the Texas Book Festival has awarded over $1.8 million in total grant funds to Texas public libraries.

In 2005:
Carver Branch-reference materials for learning technology	$2,500
Windsor Park Branch-Young Adult collection	$2,500
Total	$5,000

Texas State Library and Archives Commission Grants:
The Austin Public Library system receives grants from the Texas State Library & Archives Commission that funds Interlibrary Loan, Central Texas Library system and Loan Star Libraries (youth programming) programs for the system. In FYE 2004 and 2005 APL received $1.2 million each year to fund these programs.

National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH):
Little Walnut Creek Branch was one of 2000 libraries to be a recipient of the “We the People Bookshelf”. The recipient receives fifteen thematically related books, which embody the theme of “Becoming American”. “We the People Bookshelf” will encourage young people to read classic literature and explore the ideas and ideals of America.

See grants from FYE 2002