As we approach the one-year anniversary of the passing of our colleague, Jimmie Lyn Harris, we are pleased to announce the endowment established in her memory has recently been fully funded. Thanks to the generosity of gifts from her sister, Starla Knapp, along with other family and friends, the Jimmie Lyn Harris Program Endowment benefiting the Children’s Collection will continue to carry on her legacy here at the university and support the area where she worked.

Harris dedicated her life’s work to helping students and faculty with their research, and this endowment will ensure her love for reading, research and books will live on at Texas Woman’s. The endowment will distribute for the first time during the 2022-23 academic year and will provide funding for the acquisition of new children’s books, program support and staff training.

Harris received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in library sciences from TWU. She began her career in the TWU library in 1980 and, over the course of her career, served as the children’s librarian and as the subject specialist librarian for multicultural women’s and gender studies. In her role as children’s librarian, she developed programming that fostered children’s education by creating early exposure to books.

Harris cared for her family, her friends, her work and for TWU. This endowment will ensure her legacy and love for learning are carried on for generations to come. TWU is grateful to Harris’s family and friends who have donated to establish this endowment and honor her life’s work. Contributions can be made to the Jimmie Lyn Harris Program Endowment at pof.twu.edu.