Womansight: News for North Texas Women, Volume 2, Number 10, April 1982 Page: 1 of 12
6 p. : ill. ; 39 x 30 cm.View a full description of this newspaper.
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WOMANSIGHT INCORPORATED
P. 0. Box 64974
Dallas, Texas 75206
Return Postage Guaranteed
Bulk Rate
U. S. Postage Paid
Dallas, Texas
Permit No. 1659
The New Central Dallas Public Library
Offers a Wealth of Women’s Work
Nancy Peterson
When Mrs. Henry Exall wrote Andrew Carnegie
in 1899 soliciting a donation of $50,000 to finance
the beginning of the Dallas Public Library, little
did she know her letter would be the start of
something great.
On April 19, 1982 at 9 a.m. the Central Dallas
Public Library will open its doors to the public at
its new location, 1515 Young Street, across from
Dallas City Hall.
The library has come a long way since Mrs.
Exall raised the funds for its inception. The new
building, the third permanent facility to house the
library, will enable the library to expand its
resources and to develop its computer
technology.
The expansion of the library is important
because a number of its resource materials have
not been accessible to the public because of
space limitations. And this prospect can be very
exciting to women, since the library offers a
wealth of women’s studies material.
But finding the material can be a difficult task.
Because women’s studies is a broad term used in
reference to women in any activity—in sports, in
the arts, in society, at home, in politics,
etc.—women’s studies materials are located in
many different places throughout the library and
are not grouped together in any one special
section.
History and Social Science Librarian Heather
Williams estimates that the Dallas Public Library
purchases 70 percent of all print material that can
be classified as women’s studies. To aid people in
The Fort Worth section of the National Council
of Jewish Women (NCJW) has given the Tarrant
County Women’s Center $12,000 to support the
Center’s Pathways to Business Program, a pro-
gram to assist women seeking jobs, changing
careers or re-entering the job market.
Commenting on the award to the Women’s
Center, Jane Oderberg, president of the Fort
Worth NCJW section, said, “I am especially
happy with the marriage between NCJW and the
Women’s Center. The Pathways to Business pro-
ject, will, we feel, be of great benefit not only to
the community, but to our own members.”
Judy Rosenblum, chairperson of the local pro-
jects committee, said, ‘‘The national NCJW has
established women’s issues as being one of five
targeted project areas. This union between the
Women’s Center and the local NCJW section will,
hopefully, establish a longstanding alliance to ad-
dress the concerns and needs of women in
Tarrant County.”
In addition to the funding gift, 13 members of
the Fort Worth NCJW will be working as
volunteers at the Women’s Center, donating their
finding these materials, a resource guide to
women’s studies using the Dallas Public Library
is presently being compiled.
When asked why the library continues to pur-
chase a high volume of women’s materials,
Williams explained that the budget for each sub-
ject area in the library is determined by usage.
And because women’s areas are heavily used,
they continue to be funded, she said.
But Williams would not go so far as to label the
library ‘‘feminist.” “The library is a public institu-
tion. We have to show as many viewpoints as
possible,” she said. But because new book pur-
chases are selected by individual librarians
responsible for maintaining certain collections of
books, many women-oriented librarians elect to
buy feminist material.
For example, the library’s poetry collection “is
probably one of the best in the Southwest,” said
Judith McPheron, a poet in her own right who had
ties to many of the small presses that publish
poetry by little-known writers. Consequently, the
library has amassed an extensive collection of
works by lesser-known poets, as well as those by
recognized women poets.
Librarians responsible for maintaining book
collections read reviews in Publishers Weekly,
Library Journal and other trade publications to
help them decide which acquisitions to make.
Direct-mail promotional pieces from publishers
are another source of influence on library
purchases.
Williams said the materials most likely to be
time to the Center’s employment assistance
program.
Karen Perkins, executive director of the Center
said, “By supporting the Women’s Center’s pro-
gram of employment assistance for women, the
National Council of Jewish Women signals its
deep concern for the economic welfare of women
and the children they are often supporting alone.
We deeply appreciate the National Council of
Jewish Women’s financial support, and eagerly
anticipate working with these new volunteers.”
The Women’s Center received another gift of
$1,000 for the employment program from the local
Zonta chapter, an organization of professional
and executive women.
Joy Evetts, who presented this year’s award,
noted that the local Zonta chapter had voted to
focus this year’s service awards on community
programs that help women.
Accepting the $1,000 contribution, Perkins
stressed the importance of women and women’s
groups setting an example for the rest of-the com-
munity in lending support to women’s services.
Women’s Center Connections
Mrs. Henry Exall solicited a $50,000 dona-
tion to finance the beginning of the Dallas
Public Library in 1899.
overlooked in library acquisitions are those
published by small presses. Because the promo-
tional budget is usually minimal for a small press,
librarians often do not know of new releases.
Williams pointed out that Judith McPheron was
the exception, not the rule. Because much of the
new women’s studies material comes from small
presses, unless the individual librarian makes an
extraordinary effort to find out what they are
publishing, the library inevitably will not purchase
valuable works.
Genealogy Librarian Jean Hudon is also aware
of the difficulty in learning about small press
releases. Hudon has adopted a strategy of look-
(continued on page 10)
Also Inside:
Austin Tradeswomen
Celebrate First Year
Reviews of ‘Personal Best’
Calendar for Texas Cities
National Council of Jewish Women
Gives Funds to Women’s Center for
Pathways to Business Program
Upcoming Pages
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Womansight, Incorporated. Womansight: News for North Texas Women, Volume 2, Number 10, April 1982, newspaper, April 1982; Dallas, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc1483980/m1/1/: accessed July 11, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting UNT Libraries Special Collections.