The Ladies Reading Group of Houston was a significant founder of the public library system in Houston. Elizabeth Long, the author of the 2003 book "Book Clubs: Women and the Uses of Reading in Everyday Life", wrote that Houston's "literary scene" contributes and draws upon the overall literary culture of Texas. The University of Houston creative writing program opened in 1979. Long wrote that this program "has achieved a national reputation" in subsequent decades. In 1985 the Ladies Reading Club had a 100th anniversary celebration.