Grant to fund new books for Maud Public Library collection

MAUD, Texas — A $5,000 grant will pay for hundreds of additions to the Maud Public Library’s collection.

Librarian Savannah Monroe said the grant will pay for about 400 new items, including large print new release fiction books.

“Our junior nonfiction section is getting completely redone. We’re going to have lots of bright, colorful, updated things for that department,” she said.

The Tocker Foundation, an Austin-based nonprofit that provides funding for rural libraries in Texas, provided the grant.

It was “a huge morale boost” after the COVID-19 pandemic shut down the library’s operations for a year, Monroe said.

The library also will soon begin using new software to make a wide variety of electronic books available to its patrons.

Anyone with a library card will be able to use an app called SimplyE to access thousands of e-books from the library and TexShare, a consortium of Texas libraries.

The library plans to “go big” with its summer youth reading program this year after having to cancel it last year because of the pandemic, Monroe said.

“It will probably be something that happens during June and July. In the past, it was just about a monthlong program. But we really want to have some things for the older kids, maybe teenagers, too. We have a pretty good teen population here in Maud and Redwater,” she said.

(The Maud Public Library is at 335 Houston Drive and is open from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday through Friday. For more information, call 903-585-2121 or visit the Friends of the Maud Public Library page on Facebook.)