The Tocker Foundation of Austin has awarded a $20,125 grant to fund a traveling trunks program for San Saba County. The project is a partnership of the Rylander Memorial Library, the San Saba County Historical Museum and the Friends of the Rylander Memorial Library.The project is the brainchild of an innovative team of retired teachers, home school parents and other volunteers who sought to leverage the resources of the Library and the Museum—essentially creating a library and a museum without walls. In developing the program, the project team was inspired by the ancient Chinese proverb “Tell me, I forget. Show me, I remember. Involve me, I understand.” Using the artifacts culled from the Museum, the team will create five traveling trunks in subject matter areas such as: Water, Wildlife and Habitat, Pecans, Archeology and Our Military. Each trunk will include touchable artifacts supplemented by donated items from our community; appropriate audio visual materials; lesson plans; personal histories (both audio and video); books and other library materials; and participant supplies. The Library will be one of the primary venues for presenting programs to special interest groups (home-schooled children, scout troops, senior citizens, etc.) and the community at large. One of our team members, Mikie Bishop, has experience with such projects and will steer us in the right direction as we create these exciting educational opportunities. In addition to presentations at the Library, the trunks will travel throughout the county on field trips (to the LCRA Nature Park, for example), to school classrooms, community clubs, nearby towns, historic sites, and other places where people gather. San Saba ISD endorsed this project and submitted a letter of support to the Tocker Foundation.The Tocker Foundation was founded in 1964 to implement the philanthropic interests of Phillip and Olive Tocker. Phillip Tocker was a practicing attorney, but changed careers when he purchased the Waco outdoor advertising plant. He expanded to outdoor advertising plants throughout the United States and served as President of the Outdoor Advertising Association of America. After retiring to Austin in 1973, Phillip and Olive actively pursued their avocations.The Tockers endowed the foundation in the early 1990s with their estates. After years of supporting a variety of community-based causes, the foundation decided to focus on the needs of small, rural Texas libraries serving populations of 12,000 or less. Under the direction of Executive Director Darryl Tocker, the foundation partners with local libraries to meet the particular needs of the community. Including this grant, the Tocker Foundation has awarded more than $53,000 to the Rylander Memorial Library including a grant for $10,000 in 2001 for a printer/copier, a grant for $5934 in 2003 for a computer and books and several stipends to fund travel and education for our Librarian.