President Jonathan J. Sanford, Ph.D. | University of Dallas website

IRVING, Texas (May 20, 2024) — The Cowan-Blakley Memorial Library of the University of Dallas has been selected as one of only 50 institutions nationwide to receive a recent grant from Theatre Communications Group (TCG). TCG, the country's leading theater advocacy group and publisher of dramatic literature, awarded a new collection of plays to the University through a grant titled Plays for the People: In the Stacks.

Debbie Hathaway, MLS, Head of Acquisitions and Technical services at the university, noted that this is a competitive grant. "We’re one of 50 [institutions] nationwide that were awarded this grant," she said.

The Drama Department, English Department and library staff collaborated on this initiative. Literature professor Sarah Berry, PhD, who publishes on lyric poetry, brought the grant opportunity to Hathaway's attention. Subsequently, Hathaway worked with drama professors Kyle Lemieux, MFA, BA ’98, and Stefan Novinski, BA ’92, MFA to select which books the library would receive.

In addition to college and university libraries like Cowan-Blakley Memorial Library, conservatories and working theaters were also among the awardees.

The grant will enrich the university’s collection of contemporary drama by adding works from writers such as August Wilson, Suzan-Lori Parks, Will Arbery and Will Eno. The new additions will not only include plays but also works of scholarship and criticism.

Lemieux highlighted the importance of filling gaps in their current collection. “We have a very good collection of plays in our library," he said. "But there’s some clear gaps particularly in our contemporary plays. This grant helps fill that gap."

The University's status as a Hispanic-Serving Institution played a role in its successful bid for the grant. Ron Scrogham MA MLS Dean and Director of Libraries and Research credited this success to Hathaway's representation of the university’s holdings and its student body. "That we are one of 50 awardees of this grant is really a credit to the way Debbie represented the university’s holdings and its student body," he said.

The University of Dallas is recognized as the premier Catholic liberal arts university in the country, known for its rigorous undergraduate Core Curriculum and robust graduate and professional programs in business, ministry, education and the humanities. It offers one of America’s most challenging, comprehensive undergraduate interdisciplinary programs at an excellent value. The University has campuses in Texas and Italy.