Tag Archives: library

The City of El Paso announced Tuesday that the El Paso Public Library has received the 2017 Achievement of Excellence in Libraries Award from the Texas Municipal Library Directors Association (TMLDA).

“This is the first time that the library has received this recognition,” said El Paso Public Library Director Mark Pumphrey. “We are extremely proud that the TMLDA chose to recognize the important work that libraries in El Paso do every day. From providing developmental resources for children, teens and adults to supporting economic development, El Paso’s libraries play a vital role in our quality of life.”

The TMLDA recognizes Texas libraries that meet a high level of excellence in programming and services. The award is given to libraries that demonstrate excellence in 10 categories including services to underserved communities, programming for adults and families, literacy support for all ages, workforce development and community partnerships, among others.

Only 52 out of 548 Texas public library systems received the prestigious award.

The Texas Municipal Library Directors Association (TMLDA) promotes the public library profession, improves the methods of providing library service, and maintains high standards of professional ethics. More information on the TMLDA and the Achievement of Excellence Award is available online.

Information on the services provided by the El Paso Public Library is available online.

The El Paso Public Library will erase library fines for anyone who signs up for Summer Reading Club starting June 10.

Officials with the El Paso Public Library say, “The library encourages learning by providing hundreds of free, fun and educational programs as part of Summer Reading Club. The best part is it’s free. Studies show that children who remain active in learning go on to greater success in school and in life.”

The Summer Reading Club program includes the amnesty period that runs through August 5. Residents can go to any library branch, register for the reading club, request amnesty, then check out books and start reading.

The public library offers a variety of services that keep kids engaged in learning during the summer.

For more information on the Read Down Your Fines program, call the El Paso Public Library at (915) 212-READ or visit www.elpasolibrary.org.

When Sergio Troncoso was a young boy growing up in Ysleta, he would ride his bike all the way to Downtown El Paso, on weekends, to visit his grandmother in Segundo Barrio and to visit the Main branch of the El Paso Public Library.  He would then check his books out for the week and head back to Ysleta with his bike in the trunk of his father’s car.

Now, his dedication to literature and writing will earn him the honor of becoming the namesake of the public library branch in Ysleta where he was raised. The Sergio Troncoso Branch of the El Paso Public Library is located at 9321 Alameda Avenue.

“We know that having Mr. Troncoso’s name on one of our libraries will inspire young people to seek higher levels of learning in hopes that one day, they too will be able to give back to their community, as Mr. Troncoso has done, through hard work, dedication and a never-ending faith in education,” said Libraries Director Dionne Mack.

Today, Troncoso is a writer of essays, short stories, and novels, and the author of five books. Among the numerous awards he has won are the Premio Aztlan Literary Prize, Southwest Book Award, Bronze Award for Essays from ForeWord Reviews, International Latino Book Award, and Bronze Award for Multicultural Fiction from ForeWord Reviews.

Troncoso is a resident faculty member of the Yale Writers’ Conference in New Haven, Conn., and an instructor at the Hudson Valley Writers’ Center in Sleepy Hollow, N.Y. He has been a judge for the Shrake Award for Best Short Nonfiction from the Texas Institute of Letters.

He has also served on the Literature panel of the New York State Council on the Arts, and in 2014 he was co-chair of that panel. In 2015, he was elected to the board of councilors for the Texas Institute of Letters. He will serve as a judge for the 2016 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction.

Troncoso was inducted into the Hispanic Scholarship Fund’s Alumni Hall of Fame and the Texas Institute of Letters. He also received the Literary Legacy Award from the El Paso Community College.

He graduated from Harvard College, and studied international relations and philosophy at Yale University. He won a Fulbright scholarship to Mexico, where he studied economics, politics, and literature.

El Paso City Council voted unanimously to rename the Ysleta branch public library in honor of the author.

The Sergio Troncoso Branch of the El Paso Public Library, at 9321 Alameda Avenue, will be officially dedicated at 2 p.m. on Friday, October 2, 2015. Troncoso will be present to help dedicate the building at the free community celebration which will include mariachis, folkloricos, and free refreshments.

Author: City of El Paso