We would like to congratulate libraries in Texas who have received Fall 2016 grant awards to digitize their historic newspapers.

The Tocker Foundation supports newspaper digitization for communities with populations below 12,000. This autumn, the Tocker Foundation has awarded the following public libraries with funding to make their newspapers freely available on The Portal to Texas History.

Bonham Public Library will digitize The Bonham Daily Favorite, The Bonham Herald, and The Bonham News. This will add to The Bonham Area Newspaper Collection previously digitized for the Fannin County Historical Commission through a Rescuing Texas History award.

Comanche Public Library has received a Tocker Foundation award to make available its county-area newspapers, including the Comanche Chief and the DeLeon Free Press.

McGinley Memorial Library in McGregor received a grant to digitize The McGregor Mirror, a title for which digital preservation is especially crucial because some of its earliest issues (1904-1925) were lost in a fire. The McGregor Mirror newspaper office has worked very closely with the McGinely Memorial Library for this very crucial grant.

Stamford Carnegie Library has been awarded a grant to digitize its Stamford American Newspaper. Many community members, including the publisher, local history lovers, and the newspaper editor worked with the library to prepare their grant application.

F.M. Richards Library in Brady will digitize the Brady Standard, from its earliest days onward, through a Tocker Foundation grant award. This award was something both the library and the publishing office were very excited to receive.

Sammy Brown Library in Carthage will digitize The Panola Watchman. This grant represents a collaboration between the Sammy Brown Library and Panola College, who worked jointly to combine their collections for the digitization project.

The Ladd and Katherine Hancher Library Foundation supports newspaper digitization for libraries with populations below 50,000. The Hancher Foundation has awarded multiple grants to local public libraries to add their newspapers to The Portal to Texas History.

The Patrick Heath Public Library in Boerne will digitize The Boerne Star, and this grant developed through another significant collaboration between the public library and the local publisher.

The Smithville Public Library has received an award to digitize historic issues of its Smithville Times in Bastrop County.

The Stephenville Public Library has been awarded a Hancher Grant to digitize two titles: The Stephenville Enterprise and The Stephenville Tribune. This grant project also represents a collaboration, between the the Stephenville Public Library and Tarleton State University-Dick Smith Library, and these newspapers will represent early Stephenville history, up to 1923.

The total awards for these libraries amount to nearly $250,000 in support of newspaper digitization and preservation. These grants demonstrate all of the best characteristics of digital preservation: collaboration, community, and support for future generations. We are very proud of all our new partner libraries from across Texas, and we’re very excited to see their newspaper issues accessible for research for future generations. Congratulations to all the new grant recipients!