Successfully Completed!
Protecting Pieces of the Past project is focused on preserving books, magazines, newspapers and other items in the library’s Local History & Genealogy room.
EVENTS & PROGRAMS
East Texas Giving Day is April 29, 2025!!
What is East Texas Giving Day (ETGD)?
Hosted by the East Texas Community Foundation, ETGD is an annual 18-hour day of giving on the last Tuesday in April. ETGD provides critical funding for East Texas nonprofits. ETGD brings the entire East Texas area together on one day as one community, raising money and awareness while providing citizens an easy platform to support the mission of local nonprofits serving our communities.
Why chose Friends to give to on ETGD?
The library is for more than just books and more than 100k East Texans use the services of the Tyler Public Library. The City of Tyler provides for the basic maintenance of the building and the salaries of librarians. However, the Friends provide other library services like copier and printing services, 3D printer maintenance and supplies, genealogy programming, and Summer and Winter Reading Challenge software and supplies. Additionally, the Friends provide funding for programming like StoryTime presentations, STEAM Program, Rover Cart Activities, Homeschool Libratory, Dungeons and Dragons, Discovery Playgroup, Art Academy, and adult programming. Friends has also upgraded the Genealogy Room in 2022 and in 2024 provided new paint, carpet, lighting, and a sound system to the auditorium.
How can YOU help?
Share about the Friends with your friends, family, social organizations, and fellow book, adventure, or technology-loving friends! Whether you contribute yourself or start a fundraiser, every part of the donation goes directly to supporting the programs and resources the Friends provides to the Tyler Public Library. Donations begin in early April, but April 29 has matching funds to double every donation!
When is East Texas Giving Day?
April 29 is East Texas Giving Day! From 6 a.m. to 12 a.m. (Central Time), people from all over are able to make donations to Friends of the Tyler Public Library! We encourage EVERYONE to donate; employees, patients, friends, coworkers, your church, siblings, grandparents, your next-door neighbor, local organizations and businesses, random strangers, ex-boyfriends… anyone! Any individual with a credit card, debit card, or checking account and access to the internet can donate! If someone wishes to send a physical check or cash, they may do so by mailing it to the following address: ATTN: Friends of the Tyler Public Library P.O. Box 4057 Tyler, TX, 75712-4057
How can you donate or tell people to donate?
Click this link: https://www.easttexasgivingday.org/friendsofthetylerpubliclibrary
Or scan the QR code:
Want to donate before April 25?
No problem! Donors can follow this link: https://www.easttexasgivingday.org/friendsofthetylerpubliclibrary starting April 3. All donations made April 3 through the conclusion of Giving Day will go towards Friends of the Tyler Public Library’s grand totals.
Interested in learning more?
Check out this link: https://www.easttexasgivingday.org
We provided the library with a subscription to ancestry.com’s military records, digital equipment, and new space-saving shelving.
Tyler’s Local History & Genealogy Department contains things you can’t find online. Rare books and original manuscripts tell us about the town’s early history, who was here, and how we’ve changed over time. These documents need a highly regulated environment which they now have.
That means mold, mildew and bugs that enjoy munching on paper and book binding glue no longer have access to an entire collection of historic material.
New space-saving shelving systems keep these precious library collections stored at optimal temperature, humidity and airflow. Locking doors protect priceless artifacts. We created 200 sq. ft. more of floor space!
Friends funded a subscription to original military records including the stories, photos, and personal documents of the men and women who served. Library staff is digitizing these local collections so they will be available online.
If you support future projects like this, please join the Friends below.
See the Tyler Morning Telegraph
The third floor of the Tyler Public Library contains unique pieces of the city’s history that the Friends of the Library aim to protect.