“What do you do here?”

“Have you read all these books?”

“How do bills get passed?”

“Is this the LAW?”

The Legislative Reference Library’s smallest visitors ask some of the biggest questions! Now, a few of those questions are answered by our newest exhibit, “How a Bill is Made – Texas Style!” Located in the library’s Young Texans area, this exhibit walks readers through the steps of the legislative process, using the text of a kid-approved bill: HB 234, 86th R.S. (2019) – the “Lemonade Stand Bill.”

The exhibit includes:

• How to read a bill, from caption to effective date.
• A walk-through of bill stages and how amendments are made.
• Explanations of the jobs that make the Texas Legislature run smoothly – from legislators to doorkeepers.

 

Alongside the new exhibit, the Young Texans area also features children’s books by and about members of the Texas Legislature, along with volumes on Texas history, legends, and culture. Visitors can enjoy these books at our antique reading tables, or while using our cozy rocking chair donated by the family of Rep. Tony Goolsby. Send your youngest constituents our way!

 

Governor Greg Abbott signs the “Lemonade Stand Bill” into law!

(Image Courtesy of Senate Media Services)

 

 

This entry was posted on December 13, 2023 at 4:45 PM and has received 301 views. Print this entry.

At the beginning of each session, the Legislative Services Fair provides an opportunity for all members and their staff to learn more about the services each legislative agency offers.

This year, the fair will be held on the following dates in the Legislative Reference Library, Capitol, 2N.3:

Thursday, January 19, 2023, from 2PM – 4PM
Tuesday, January 24, 2023, from 10AM – Noon

Staff from the following legislative agencies will be in attendance:

• Legislative Budget Board
• Texas Legislative Council
• Legislative Reference Library
• State Auditor's Office
• Sunset Advisory Commission
• National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL)

Please drop by the fair to learn more about how these legislative agencies can assist your office during the 88th Legislature!

You might come away with more than information — we will have selected publications and other items to give away.

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Updated offices and reference desk will help us better serve our patrons.

This entry was posted on February 10, 2020 at 10:00 AM and has received 1321 views. Print this entry.

Happy anniversary to us! The Legislative Reference Library marks its 50th anniversary as an agency this September. The Legislative Reference Library was created as "an independent agency of the legislature" by Acts 1969, 61st Leg., p. 154, Ch. 55 (Senate Bill 263),

 

As noted last week, we are currently marking our anniversary year with a renovation project—but we will continue to offer reference, research, and other library services while we are relocated. We look forward to many more years of serving the legislative community! 

This entry was posted on August 19, 2019 at 9:30 AM and has received 1214 views. Print this entry.

After being in our restored space for more than 20 years, the Texas State Preservation Board has planned a renovation of the Legislative Reference Library. New carpet, paint, public computer stations, added staff work areas, and other updates are on the horizon for the LRL.

 

As with any big renovation project, this means that the LRL's operations will have to temporarily relocate from the Capitol! We will be based on the fourth floor of the John H. Reagan Building; our Capitol space will be closed. The LRL will continue to offer reference and research assistance, check out library materials, send Current Articles and New & Noteworthy emails, produce the Legislative Clipping Service, and provide other library services. The renovation will begin in August and will take approximately five months.

 

Please continue to call us at (512) 463-1252 and/or email us at LRL.Service@lrl.texas.gov with your reference and research needs.

 

This entry was posted on August 12, 2019 at 9:54 AM and has received 2922 views. Print this entry.

• View a thread map showing the birthplaces of all of the governors born in Texas—interestingly, only two out of twenty-one were born in the same town. (Rusk gave us both Gov. James Stephen Hogg, the first governor to be born in Texas, and Gov. Thomas Mitchell Campbell.)
• Consider the higher education institutes that helped prepare twenty-eight governors for leadership. (There are a lot more commonalities here than we saw in birthplaces!)
• Enjoy photos and other memorabilia from inauguration festivities, 1939 to 2019. 

This entry was posted on March 7, 2019 at 12:35 PM and has received 1105 views. Print this entry.

Entering the Capitol grounds from the south, one of the first monuments visitors see is the Texas African American History Memorial. Unveiled on November 19, 2016, the monument commemorates African American Texans and their contributions to the history and evolution of the Lone Star State. 

 

To see how the memorial developed in sculptor Ed Dwight's studio and learn about its legislative history, visit the Legislative Reference Library's display featuring the piece. Photographs showing components of the sculpture in different stages, alongside images of the final product, give insight into the artist's process. Placards lining the top of the case outline the eight bills that the legislature passed in the process of making the memorial a reality. (You can also learn more about the monument's legislative history here.)

 

As Texans prepare to commemorate Black History Month, we hope you'll visit our display and the Texas African American History Memorial to learn more about the wide array of contributions made by Black Texans.

 

Images, clockwise from top: 

The Texas African American History Memorial display is located in the case nearest the reference desk.

 

Photos from sculptor Ed Dwight's studio came to the library courtesy of Bill Jones, Esq., Chair of the Texas African American History Memorial Foundation, and help us to see the many steps and intricate work that went into the 27-foot high and 32-foot wide monument.

This entry was posted on January 30, 2019 at 9:00 AM and has received 1633 views. Print this entry.

At the beginning of each session, the Legislative Agency Service Fair provides an opportunity for new members and their staff to learn more about the services each agency offers.

 

This year, the fair will be held on Thursday, January 24, from 10:30 until noon, in the Legislative Reference Library, Capitol, 2N.3.

 

Staff from the following legislative agencies will be in attendance: Legislative Budget Board, Legislative Reference Library, State Auditor's Office, Sunset Advisory Commission, and Texas Legislative Council. Also attending will be a representative from the National Conference of State Legislatures. You might come away with more than information—we will have selected publications and other items to give away.

 

Please drop by the fair to learn more about how legislative agencies can support your work!

 

Rep. Dade Phelan (HD-21) reviews materials from the Legislative Reference Library with LRL Assistant Director, Catherine Wusterhausen, at the 2015 agency fair.

This entry was posted on January 14, 2019 at 10:00 AM and has received 1251 views. Print this entry.