The Texas State Library and Archives Commission (TSLAC) has announced that it has awarded the Round Rock Public Library System a grant of $49,500 to build Innovation Station, an after-school maker space and program that aims to engage middle schoolers in project-based science, technology, engineering, mathematics, art and design activities. The grant is part of a total $1.6 million in awards that TSLAC is distributing in fiscal 2014 to Texas library programs through its Texas Reads, Impact, TexTreasures, Library Cooperation, and Special Projects annual grant programs.

All of the TSLAC grants—a total of 70 for this fiscal year being given to public libraries, institutions of higher education, and related nonprofit organizations and programs—are funded by the federal Library Services and Technology Act via the Institute of Museum and Library Services in Washington, D.C. The grant period runs from September 1, 2013, to August 31, 2014.

“These grants will help improve library programs and services in communities and institutions all over Texas,” says TSLAC Interim Director and Librarian Edward Seidenberg, in the announcement. “These federal dollars augment local funds and help local libraries fulfill their roles as valuable community resources.”

Several of the awards will fund digitization, community reading, and family and early childhood literacy projects, while others will enhance access to information and services.

Two of the largest awards are a $75,000 Library Cooperation Grant to the University of North Texas for its Denton for Inquiry 4 Lifelong Learning (DI4LL) program, which will focus on information literacy skills of pre-kindergarten through graduate school learners, and the grant to the Round Rock system.

Round Rock’s planned Innovation Station will be a collaborative effort between the city of Round Rock, its local school district, and a local nonprofit.