The San Antonio Public Library is getting a facelift, or rather, its Texana Resource Center that houses a vast array of historic documents chronicling the region's past is, the City Council having greenlit a contractor's bid back in the early days of May to roll out an extensive remodel and expansion job that's been on the backburner for years due to inflating construction costs and a ballooning project scope, so the wait's finally over and the overhaul's said to kickstart in the next few weeks.
Hitting the ground running is Best Built, the crew chosen to tackle the expansion of the special collections space that spans the entire sixth floor of the distinctive red library and turning it into a 21,000-square-foot, cutting-edge history and research haven, it's "bigger than our largest branch library," Kathy Donellan, the interim library director took the reins after Ramiro Salazar's bow out in March, told the San Antonio Report.
Blueprints drawn up by the local Marmon Mok architecture firm include a highly-anticipated archival vault boasting high-density shelving and advanced climate control systems to safeguard the plethora of rare and delicate items, on top of that, the revamped hub will feature a range of new amenities from a flexible classroom space, private consulting rooms, to a genealogy research room and gallery space.
In the interim, the library's most frequented items like newspapers and city directories are cozily placed near the reception desk easy-peasy for the public to access, while the rest of the treasure trove’s been shuffled off to safekeeping or temporary quarters on the library’s main floor. Titles documenting Texas history, family names like Martinez and Marroquin, and rows of hardback city directories with their leathery covers and the gold-embossed lettering remain as accessible as ever, despite the upheaval.
Special Collections Manager Heather Ferguson, who runs the show at the Texana Resource Center, emphasized the breadth of the collection, "The San Antonio Public Library, throughout its history, had a fairly large collection of books on Texas and general history topics," but it wasn't until they got a dedicated space in the '95 building that it became a bona fide department," she revealed in a San Antonio Report interview.
The genealogy research game is strong at the center, the staff vying as unsung heroes digging up information through a myriad of sources and databases, assisting folks from all walks and places in nailing that elusive family history or rare record. The Texana’s commitment to preserving regional history and improving public accessibility is clear, with Deborah Countess, special collections librarian, noting to the San Antonio Report, "We get people from out of town all the time, sometimes specifically just to do research on their family."
While the strain on the purse strings was evident, with the 2017 bond falling short of the library's request, amassing only $700,000, it was the San Antonio Library Foundation that rose to the occasion, mobilizing support and an impressive $850,000 additional funding toward the project's fruition. Their efforts coupled with private donations and bond money from 2022 brought the project towards its current $5 million mark. "History and all of the family stories and everything that Texana is safeguarding for the citizens of San Antonio, that was a huge priority," Amy Hone, the executive director of the San Antonio Library Foundation, told the San Antonio Report, attesting to the community's vested interest in the preservation and enhancement of this cultural cornerstone.
