The Georgetown Public Library has won the 2018 National Medal for Museum and Library Service, an award considered the nation’s highest honor for museums and libraries, according to the Institute of Museum and Library Services.
The announcement is just the second time a public city library in Texas has been given the award since annual honors began in 1994. The San Antonio Public Library was recognized in 2006. Additional in-state winners have included the Regional Academic Health Center Medical Library of the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio in 2004 and the San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts in 2003.
Georgetown’s library, located at 402 W. Eighth St., Georgetown, is among 10 recipients of the 2018 award, which honors museums and libraries that make significant contributions to their communities. Georgetown was among 29 finalists for the honor announced in March.
Georgetown Library Director Eric Lashley will accept the medal later in May at a ceremony at the U.S. Institute of Peace in Washington, D.C.
Along with the award, Georgetown officials said Tuesday that StoryCorps, a national nonprofit organization that travels the U.S. to record and preserve stories of Americans, will visit the Georgetown library to record residents’ stories about how the library has affected their lives. StoryCorps preserves the stories it collects at the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress.