| The Texas Book Festival has awarded the Kerens Library a book grant of $2,500. The grant will be used to fund the purchase of children's books and DVDs and also a selection of bestseller books for adults. The funds will enable us to enhance the children’s summer reading program as well as benefit the adult patrons of the library.
Every year public libraries across Texas apply to the Texas Book Festival to receive grant funds. The grants are intended to help initiate or continue innovative literacy programs, integrate new technology and complement existing book collections. This year, the Festival is distributing more than $200,000 in grants to 72 public libraries across the state. Since 1996 the Festival has contributed more than $2 million in grants to Texas public libraries.
The grants are made possible through support of ongoing Texas Book Festival programs and the public's consumption of books during the annual event on the grounds of the Texas State Capitol. The 2008 Texas Book Festival is scheduled for November 1 and 2.
"We are honored to support Texas public libraries and invaluable services they provide to their communities in cultivating literacy," said Heidi Marquez Smith, executive director for the Texas Book Festival. "Public libraries are so often under funded and Texas Book Festival grants can really make a difference in helping them serve their communities."
About the Texas Book Festival
The Texas Book Festival (TBF) celebrates authors and their contributions to the culture of literacy, ideas and imagination. Founded in 1996 by Laura Bush and a group of interested volunteers, the TBF has brought together more than 2,000 authors and more than half a million people from Texas and across the nation. Festival proceeds have funded book collections and literacy and technology programs in public libraries throughout the state, and allow the festival to be free to the public. Its year-round programs cultivate an interest in reading by bringing authors and their books to economically disadvantaged students.
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