Newspaper Digitization Grant

Newspaper Digitization Grant

Status: ACTIVE
Funder: Tocker Foundation
Last Updated: March 16, 2026

Summary

The Tocker Foundation, established in 1964, focuses on supporting small, rural Texas libraries with populations under 12,000. Their Newspaper Digitization Grant aims to preserve local historical documents, ensuring that communities retain their heritage. A notable success was the partnership with the Ed and Hazel Richmond Public Library, which digitized old newspapers at risk of being lost due to flooding. Applications for the grant are accepted year-round, reflecting the foundation's commitment to accessible historical preservation.

Overview

The Tocker Foundation The Tocker Foundation was created in 1964 to implement the philanthropic interests of Phillip and Olive Tocker. Phillip Tocker was a practicing attorney, but changed careers in his later years when he purchased the Waco outdoor advertising plant and later expanded to own outdoor advertising plants throughout the United States. His vocational career culminated to the position of President of the Outdoor Advertising Association of America. After retiring to Austin Texas in 1973, Phillip and Olive Tocker actively pursued their avocations. Phillip and Olive Tocker endowed the foundation with their estates in 1994 and 1993 respectively. After years of supporting a wide range of community-based causes, the foundation discovered a need in small, rural Texas libraries serving populations of 12,000 or less. In 1992 the foundation board decided to focus grant distributions in this way. The foundation partners with community libraries to meet the particular needs of the community. Newspaper Digitization Libraries are frequently the repository for historical documents and newspapers. We receive many calls from libraries that are concerned about preserving local history. One such library was Ed and Hazel Richmond Public Library in Aransas Pass. They were worried about the storage conditions of several local newspapers dating back to 1891 in a community that is just barely above sea level. The librarian wrote, “If our area should ever experience the devastation of a major hurricane . . . then the history of our community would be lost forever.” Through a digitization grant, the folks from the Portal drove to Aransas Pass and filled six vans with those documents in late summer 2016. At the time, the publisher pointed to the sea and said “We know we’re one natural disaster away from losing everything.” That facility flooded the following year. If not for the foresight and partnership of the library and the local publisher, it would have all been lost. To preserve this history and make it available to all via the Portal to Texas History, we have partnered with the University of North Texas’ Digital Newspaper Program. Because of the tremendous success of this partnership, we now accept applications year-round. No more waiting for the next grant application deadline.

Eligibility

You can learn more about this opportunity by visiting the funder's website. Which libraries qualify for a Tocker Foundation Grant?Communities in the state of Texas that serve a population of 12,000 or less according to statistics from the Texas State Library database. County libraries may use the city population rather than the assigned county population when determining the eligibility.