About Us

Established in the summer of 1979, the Resource and Outreach Center (TROC), formerly known as the Resource Center, was developed as a "model of inter-institutional cooperation." The center was designed to combine the resources collections of The Teachers College (TTC) and the special needs collections of the Flint Hills Instructional Materials Center, a division of the Flint Hills Special Education Cooperative (FHIMC), including seven school districts from Emporia and the surrounding area.

The Teachers College Resource Center experienced a major transition in 2018, as the partnership with FHIMC came to an end. Although the partnership is no longer part of TTC, educators are still able to continue to check out materials from TTC Resource and Outreach Center via our TROC Patron Program.

Additionally, the print collection includes hundreds of books from two generous donors; Gary and Barbara Bleeker. Gary and Barbara Bleeker, former professors at Emporia State University, were the recipients of children and young adult books each year. The Bleekers reviewed many of these for the Topeka Capital journal and used others in workshops taught throughout the state. These books were later donated to TTC Resource Center to be available for circulation to all; and enjoyed by many. TROC's collection has over 10,000 books, with new books added every year.

In 2020, the Resource Center merged with the majority of the Jones Institute of Educational Excellence, merging its tier of professional development with the RC collection. Thus, the Resource Center was renamed to the Resource and Outreach Center and serves to provide instructional materials, utilizing some of the resources from FHIMC and adding new materials, resources, and technology, along with facilitating professional development opportunities, based on the curriculum requests and the interests of The Teachers College faculty and students.