TLA Presents Libraries Change Communities Award and More at TLA 2022

Please congratulate the winners of the following TLA 2022 Awards. These awards were presented at the TLA Annual Conference in Fort Worth at the Fort Worth Convention Center.

Libraries Change Communities Award: Harris County Public Library 
The “Growing Readers” project is a county-wide initiative designed to prepare children from birth to age 5 for success in school. The Growing Readers project is a comprehensive program that gives parents and caregivers the tools, know-how, and resources to make everyday activities into fun, enriching learning experiences for families with young children.

Outstanding Service to Libraries Award: #FReadom Fighters
This project, a social media endeavor, is to raise awareness and gain support for librarians and libraries at a time when censorship is on the rise and intellectual freedom in libraries is under attack from multiple directions.

The #FReadom Fighters are committed to highlighting the positive work of librarians, to speak up in support of authors and students, and to provide professional resources for librarians, teachers or authors facing book challenges.

Benefactor Award: There are two awards this year, one to the Glaser Family Foundation and the other to Wanda Conlin & Don Boren.

The Robert J. & Helen H. Glaser Family Foundation was recognized for their longtime and generous support of the Colleyville Public Library. For 18 years, the foundation has donated annually to the Colleyville Public Library Foundation to support the library’s summer reading programs. In 2003, the foundation provided a $5,000 grant for purchase of children’s books for the Library Opening Day Collection, and since 2004 has annually provided a grant of $10,000, totaling $185,000 overall.

Wanda Conlin and Don Boren are recognized for their support of the new Reby Cary Youth Library, part of the Fort Worth Public Library. In addition to their own financial support, Conlin and Boren spearheaded efforts to raise funds in support of the new library. The $5.49 million Reby Cary Youth Library officially opened on Aug. 14, 2021 and is the first Fort Worth Public Library location designed specifically for children, teens and their caregivers.