Posted May 14, 2004.

Pledge Drive Saves Texas Access to Genealogy Database

In order to maintain statewide access to two databases popular with genealogists and medical students, the Texas State Library and Archive Commission held a pledge drive to raise a total of $408,000 to cover the subscription costs. After the state cut funding for the databases, the state library asked Texas’s 700 public and academic libraries to commit to a recommended pledge level, based on each library’s population served or school’s enrollment.

When the pledge drive ended May 1, libraries had pledged $262,690 toward the HeritageQuest database, exceeding the goal by nearly $20,000; the surplus will be applied toward next year’s fundraising drive.

However, pledges for STAT!Ref, which provides full-text access to medical books, only reached $93,725—about 60% short of the target of $165,000. “Unfortunately, there’s not as much money . . . with medical students [as] you would have with genealogists, who perhaps have a little more disposable income,” Russlene Waukechon, TexShare database coordinator for the state library, said in the May 11 Dallas Morning News. Academic libraries will still be able to subscribe individually to STAT!Ref through a state program called TexSelect, at a higher cost.

“I think it’s wonderful, and I am so happy that we have the money to help out,” Brenda Kellow told the News.“I’m glad we have it for this year.” Kellow is president of Genealogy Friends of Plano Libraries, which pledged $3,000 to keep HeritageQuest. 

Posted May 14, 2004.