Timeline

1895 - U.S. and Texas governments agreed to exchange government documents.

1909 - Texas Library and Historical Commission was created; in 1979, it was renamed Texas State Library and Archives Commission (TSLAC).

1919 - Legislation was enacted regarding county public libraries.

1931 - National Library Service was established for adults who are blind, and TSLAC began providing Talking Book services.

1947 - State records management function was established.

1952 - Children who are blind became eligible for Talking Book service.

1956 - Federal Library Services Act was created and funded to establish and improve local public library service.

1962 - Lorenzo de Zavala State Archives and Library Building opened; Federal Depository Library Act established regional depository system.

1963 - State legislation was enacted to authorize TSLAC to collect, organize, and distribute Texas documents and to establish the depository library system for state publications.

1966 - Persons with physical disabilities other than blindness became eligible for the Talking Book service.

1969 - Legislative Reference Library was separated from the agency; Library Systems Act was enacted to provide for a regional cooperative program to improve Texas public libraries.

1971 - Local government records function was enacted.

1972 - State Records Center opened.

1974 - Persons with organic dysfunction resulting in learning disabilities became eligible for Talking Book service.

1977 - Sam Houston Regional Library and Research Center in Liberty opened.

1978 - Talking Book Program's Volunteer Recording Studio was established.

1979 - Renamed Texas State Library and Archives Commission (TSLAC).

1988 - State Records Center expansion was completed, and Talking Book Program circulation facility opened adjacent to the State Records Center.

1989 - Local Government Records Act was enacted.

1994 - North Texas Regional Library System became the first of the 10 regional public library systems to establish as a private not-for-profit organization, funded with a Library Systems Act grant.

1995 - Legislature assigned responsibility for the development of standards for school library programs to TSLAC; Legislation added electronic publications and Internet to agency responsibilities.

1996 - The Library Services and Technology Act replaced the Federal Library Services and Construction Act; Texas Book Festival was inaugurated to raise funds for public libraries and to encourage reading in Texas.

1997 - Legislature created library tax districts as a mechanism to establish and fund public libraries; Legislature enacted new state records preservation and management law; Legislature transferred responsibility for the TexShare academic library resource-sharing consortium to TSLAC.

1999 - Legislature added public libraries to the TexShare library resource-sharing consortium.

2001 - Legislature funded the Loan Star Libraries Program of direct aid to Texas public libraries; Libraries of clinical medicine were added to the TexShare library resource-sharing consortium.

2003 - Legislature increased number of Commissioners to seven; Library Services and Technology Act was reauthorized.

2005 - Legislature authorized public school libraries to participate in group purchasing programs of TexShare; Legislature created a second library district law (does not replace the 1997 law) that permits funding by sales or property tax.

2007 - Sunset bill re-authorizes agency for 12 years; Legislature authorized TSLAC to support collaborative efforts to provide Internet access to digitized cultural resources.

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