LIBRARY NOTES

DONNICE CARRUTH | SPECIAL TO THE TEXAS SPUR

Tocker grant, memorial gifts While at the Texas

Library Conference in Austin I volunteered some of my time at the Tocker Foundation booth located in the exhibit hall. I was there to answer any questions other librarians from small rural libraries might have about our experiences with the grant process and interactions with the foundation. The people I have dealt with at the foundation have made the process much easier than I imagined it would be. They are all very kind and helpful. Associate Director Karin Gerstenhaber is always available to answer any question I might have.

Since the early 1990s the Tocker Foundation has funded projects totaling between $13,000,000 and $15,000,000 in small rural Texas libraries. They have funded well over $100,000 in the Dickens County-Spur Public Library over the last twenty years. The foundation was endowed the estates of Phillip and Olive Tocker in 1993 and 1994. After years of supporting a wide range of communitybased causes, the foundation discovered a need in small, rural Texas libraries serving populations of 12,000 or less. In 1992 the foundation board decided to focus grant distributions in this way. The foundation partners with community libraries to meet the particular needs of the community.

I received notification just before leaving for the conference that the Tocker Foundation has agreed to fund a $5,000 collection and development project here at the library. This funding will help enhance our collection of materials in most areas of the library. Our nonfiction section is in need of updating. We have already been actively going through and weeding out materials that are no longer relevant due to the materials being outdated. With this funding we will be able to purchase current nonfiction titles helping our patrons keep up with the ever changing times.

We will also be adding to our large print sections of the library. Our patrons especially enjoy the large print titles from some of today’s bestselling authors such as James Patterson and Danielle Steel. They also like western fiction and Christian fiction in large print from authors such as William W. and J.A. Johnstone and Tracie Peterson. Our newest section of the library is our children’s large print section. Studies have shown that large print improves letter and word recognition and also aids in reading comprehension. They are an essential resource for any literacy program.

Another great resource we have here in our community is our patrons. The donations made by them help more that they know. I finally got the chance to go through some of the books we received recently and we were able to add over 50 new titles to our shelves. Most of these were in the children’s section. Here are just a few of the titles we added to the easy reader section of the library: “Round Up: A Texas Number Book” by Carol Crane, “Little Red Cowboy Hat” by Susan Lowell, “It’s Raining, It’s Pouring” by Kin Eagle, “The Crayon Counting Book” by Pam Munoz Ryan and Jerry Pallotta, “Reese’s Pieces Count by Fives” by Jerry Pallotta, “The M & M’s Counting Book” by Barbara Barbieri MCGrath, “The Hershey Fraction Book” by Jerry Pallotta, and “The Three Little Javalinas” by Susan Lowell.

The library received several memorial donations this past week for Minnie Montemayor, Clara Milson, Louise Pevehouse and Adele Gannon.

Check out everything new at the library.

Donnice Carruth is director of the Dickens County- Spur Library, in Spur.