IRVING, Texas (May 20, 2024) — The Cowan-Blakley Memorial Library of the University of Dallas was one of just 50 institutions around the country to receive a recent grant from Theatre Communications Group (TCG).

TCG, the nation’s foremost theater advocacy group and publisher of dramatic literature, awarded a new collection of plays to the University of Dallas through a grant called Plays for the People: In the Stacks.

“We’re one of 50 [institutions] nationwide that were awarded this grant,” said Debbie Hathaway, MLS, Head of Acquisitions and Technical services. “So it is a competitive grant.”

The Drama Department, English Department and library staff collaborated. Literature professor Sarah Berry, PhD, who publishes on lyric poetry, notified Hathaway of the grant opportunity. Hathaway worked with drama professors Kyle Lemieux, MFA, BA ’98, and Stefan Novinski, BA ’92, MFA, to pick which books the library would receive.

Along with other college and university libraries, the awardees include conservatories and working theaters.

The grant fills out the university’s collection of contemporary drama, adding the works of writers including August Wilson, Suzan-Lori Parks, Will Arbery and Will Eno, among others. The new books also include works of scholarship and criticism as well as plays.

“We have a very good collection of plays in our library, but there’s some clear gaps, particularly in our contemporary plays,” Lemieux said. “This grant helps fill that gap, particularly the contemporary playwrights, and that’s hugely important for students of not just our department, but other departments as well.”

UD’s status as a Hispanic-Serving Institution bettered its chances to win a grant.

“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,” said Dean and Director of Libraries and Research Ron Scrogham, MA, MLS.

About the University of Dallas

The University of Dallas is 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. According to national rankings, the University of Dallas has one of America’s most challenging, comprehensive undergraduate interdisciplinary programs, offered at an excellent value to some of the happiest students in the country. With campuses in Texas and Italy, UD stands apart as a thriving community of learners committed to an education that forms students intellectually, socially and spiritually for a life well-lived. For more information, visit udallas.edu.