Background

Capital Campaign for the Lorenzo de Zavala State Archives and Library Building

Your History is in Our Hands. Our Future is in Yours.

A remarkable transformation is in progress with the first effort to modernize and update the 50-year-old Lorenzo de Zavala State Archives and Library Building, flagship building of the Texas State Library and Archives Commission. The Texas Legislature committed $17.3 million to provide for mechanical, electrical, and other building infrastructure upgrades; asbestos abatement; and basic furnishings.

The Friends of Libraries & Archives of Texas has undertaken a $10 million Capital Campaign, chaired by Governor Dolph Briscoe, to enhance this effort. Please help us finish the job!

The Friends has already raised $1.7 million for:

• specialized compact movable shelving for historical documents, records, books, and artifacts;

• indirect lighting to protect materials from damaging UV rays;

• a state-of-the-art Conservation Lab to conserve and preserve fragile and damaged documents, and

• National Library Service-certified recording booths for TSLAC’s Talking Book Program that serves blind and physically handicapped Texans.

Houston Endowment Challenge

Now we need your help to match a challenge grant from the Houston Endowment. Our goal is to raise $1.3 million in gifts and pledges in 2010 to receive a $500,000 grant from the Endowment. The Friends is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that supports the Texas State Library and Archives Commission.

Please help us meet this goal! Your contribution will directly impact your State Archives, home to the Travis Letter from the Alamo; the Matamoros Battalion flag, captured at the Battle of San Jacinto; and other priceless and unique documents and artifacts of Texas history. The goal of the Capital Campaign is to strengthen preservation of this rare collection, expand public access, and to strengthen TSLAC's continuing education programs for the state's public, academic, and medical librarians with advanced technology for onsite training and distance learning.

Make a contribution to the Friends of Libraries & Archives of Texas Capital Campaign. For more information contact Charlotte McCann, director of development, at (512) 936-2505 or by e-mail at friends@tsl.state.tx.us.

Selected Investments

(Please contact us for Leadership Giving and Naming Opportunities.)

• Custom secure display cases for on-site exhibition of the Travis letter and other Texas Treasures; fixed and mobile exhibit cases for historic flags and documents; and cases designed specifically for traveling exhibits that would allow the people of Texas to see the documents and other artifacts without coming to Austin.

• An enhanced security system, including cameras and motion detectors, to provide closed-circuit monitoring of the Archives Reading Room, stacks, and storage, to ensure the utmost security for the treasures of Texas history.

• A large-format scanner to digitize maps, drawings, documents, and photographs for enhanced online access to the Treasures of the archives.

• Walk-up book scanners, which are gentle alternatives to copiers; and laptops for moving among work stations.

• specialized compact movable shelving for historical documents, records, books, and artifacts;

• A dedicated server for digitized archival images.

• Conservation education video modules (in-library and online) will teach visitors about the fragility of historic materials, environmental concerns related to preserving the documents that tell the tale of Texas, and the complexities and details of the conservation process.

• Touchscreen displays in the lobby, and in each of the public service areas-Archives Reading Room, Texas Family Heritage Research Center (Genealogy), and the Reference and Information Center-will provide an orientation to the agency and its collections.

• Endowed Conservatorship.

• Interior and Exterior Signage; exterior lighting

• Landscaping