The Quitman Public Library has been awarded the 2020 Texas Achievement in Library Excellence Award by the Texas Municipal Library Director’s Association, an affiliate of the Texas Municipal League of which the city of Quitman is a member.  

The award is conferred annually to libraries that demonstrate consistent excellence and outstanding contributions to public library services. The award is difficult to attain, as libraries are required to meet high-level criteria across 10 service standards in programming and services. 

In 2020, only 56 libraries out of 568 Texas public library systems were awarded this honor, meaning the Quitman Public Library ranks in the top 10% of municipal public libraries in the state. 

In 2017, the library received the Achievement of Excellence award for the first time. According to Delene Allen, library director, “Meeting the criteria for the 2020 award has been a greater challenge due to pandemic-related setbacks and mandates of this past year.”

Allen said, “It is an honor to be selected for this award once again. I could not be prouder of my staff and volunteers who work extremely hard to offer the best library service to our community.”