UNT Gets Three-Year Grant To Help 105 Rural Libraries in Texas
By Norman Oder Jun 24, 2010Thanks to a $1.6 million grant from the Wichita Falls, TX-based Robert and Ruby Priddy Charitable Trust, the University of North Texas (UNT) Department of Library and Information Sciences, Denton, will launch a three-year project, Promoting & Enhancing the Advancement of Rural Libraries (PEARL), serving communities of 25,000 or fewer in Texas.
"Public libraries in rural communities are facing enormous challenges," said Yunfei Du, the principal investigator for the project. "They are experiencing an increase in demand for services while simultaneously dealing with declining tax bases, lack of an educated workforce, decreasing funding, and an aging population."
Offering assistance
PEARL aims to help 105 rural libraries create a Community Outreach Plan and train library staff in using it. Librarians will be able to share experiences and concerns via a resource center website, a virtual community for peer interaction, two annual workshops, memberships in the Texas Library Association (TLA), and attendance at TLA's annual conference.
Five graduate students will be funded to earn a Certificate of Advanced Study (CAS), with an emphasis in rural librarianship. Each student will work with seven libraries a year, or a total of 21 libraries over three years.
About the trust
The Priddy Charitable Trust has focused on liberal arts education, pre-K-12 public education, community healthcare, and rural public libraries. Established in 2001, it's a limited-life trust that will expire in 2021. It considers grants by invitation only.
