Houston Public Library
Houston Public Library is a municipal public library system based in Houston (Harris County), Texas, serving a legal service area of 2,314,157 residents through 38 library buildings and one bookmobile. Among the 503 profiled systems in Texas, it ranks first for number of library buildings, first for print volumes, second for public computers and third for operating spending.
Of all 8,561 systems profiled nationwide, it ranks ninth for population served. Among the 35 profiled systems serving 1 million or more residents, it records the sixth-largest gain in physical checkouts since FY 2019, but ranks third-lowest for visits per resident and third-lowest for operating spending per resident.
Houston against the 35 systems of its size class
Houston, building by building
The 38 buildings cover 937,982 square feet in total, 0.41 square feet per resident against a median of 0.39 for the size class. The largest building is Houston Public Library at 333,620 square feet; the smallest is Techlink Dixon at 3,141. The longest hours are at McCrane-Kashmere Gardens Neighborhood Library, 46.6 a week.
| Building | Type | Town | Hours a week | Floor area, sq ft |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Houston Public Library | Central library | Houston | 44.2 | 333,620 |
| African American History Research Center | Branch | Houston | 33.9 | 26,007 |
| Bracewell Neighborhood Library | Branch | Houston | 40.1 | 11,979 |
| Carnegie Neighborhood Library | Branch | Houston | 40.3 | 22,365 |
| Collier Regional Library | Branch | Houston | 39.9 | 17,440 |
| Dr Shannon Walker Neighborhood Library | Branch | Houston | 42.8 | 23,260 |
| Family History Research Center at the Clayton Campus | Branch | Houston | 33.7 | 37,395 |
| Flores Neighborhood Library | Branch | Houston | 39.3 | 9,265 |
| Freed-Montrose Neighborhood Library | Branch | Houston | 30.2 | 16,459 |
| Heights Neighborhood Library | Branch | Houston | 39.9 | 15,260 |
| Henington-Alief Regional Library | Branch | Houston | 40.6 | 19,620 |
| Hillendahl Neighborhood Library | Branch | Houston | 39.8 | 10,900 |
| Houston History Research Center | Branch | Houston | 32.4 | 93,000 |
| Hpl Express Southwest | Branch | Houston | 30.1 | 3,636 |
| Johnson Neighborhood Library | Branch | Houston | 39.9 | 12,190 |
| Jungman Neighborhood Library | Branch | Houston | 40 | 18,530 |
| Kendall Neighborhood Library | Branch | Houston | 40.1 | 22,365 |
| Looscan Neighborhood Library | Branch | Houston | 40.2 | 21,175 |
| Mancuso Neighborhood Library | Branch | Houston | 32.3 | 8,930 |
| McCrane-Kashmere Gardens Neighborhood Library | Branch | Houston | 46.6 | 11,178 |
| McGovern-Stella Link Neighborhood Library | Branch | Houston | 39.8 | 20,393 |
| Melcher Neighborhood Library | Branch | Houston | 29.6 | 4,578 |
| Moody Neighborhood Library | Branch | Houston | 31 | 6,213 |
| Oak Forest Neighborhood Library | Branch | Houston | 40.7 | 12,116 |
| Park Place Regional Library | Branch | Houston | 39.8 | 16,000 |
| Pleasantville Neighborhood Library | Branch | Houston | 35.2 | 4,360 |
| Ring Neighborhood Library | Branch | Houston | 30.3 | 8,391 |
| Robinson-Westchase Neighborhood Library | Branch | Houston | 40.1 | 18,094 |
| Scenic Woods Regional Library | Branch | Houston | 39.7 | 12,252 |
| Shepard-Acres Homes Neighborhood Library | Branch | Houston | 40.2 | 8,720 |
| Smith Neighborhood Library | Branch | Houston | 40.7 | 11,445 |
| Stanaker Neighborhood Library | Branch | Houston | 40 | 9,045 |
| Stimley-Blue Ridge Neighborhood Library | Branch | Missouri City | 40.1 | 14,660 |
| Techlink Dixon | Branch | Houston | 40 | 3,141 |
| Tuttle Neighborhood Library | Branch | Houston | 39.9 | 7,722 |
| Vinson Neighborhood Library | Branch | Houston | 39.8 | 19,864 |
| Walter Neighborhood Library | Branch | Houston | 40.2 | 10,400 |
| Young Neighborhood Library | Branch | Houston | 40 | 16,014 |
| Hpl Mobile Express | Bookmobile | Houston | 12 |
Houston in numbers, FY 2024
- Visits
- 2,124,114
- Physical checkouts
- 3,273,923
- …of children's materials
- 2,020,774
- Electronic checkouts
- 3,211,916
- …of e-books
- 1,109,815
- …of e-audio
- 1,468,337
- Registered users
- 1,985,591
- Program sessions
- 10,179
- Program attendance
- 157,692
- Print volumes
- 2,194,332
- Audio items (physical)
- 48,523
- Video items (physical)
- 131,578
- Public computers
- 900
- Public service hours, all outlets
- 71,717
- Paid staff (full-time equivalent)
- 442.0
- Operating spending
- $49.5 million
- …on books and other materials
- $6.5 million
- Overdue fines on print items
- not charged
Where Houston gets its operating money
Operating revenue came to $51.9 million, or $22.41 per resident. The local-government share is close to the combined share for the 503 profiled systems in Texas. Federal money made up 1.1% of the total.
- Local government
- State
- Federal
- Other (fines, fees, gifts, grants)
Houston since FY 2019
Visits were 34% below the FY 2019 count of 3.2 million (size-class median: −34%). Physical checkouts moved 1% up over the same span.
- Visits
- Physical checkouts
Who comes to Houston programs
Programs for children up to age 11 drew 63% of all program attendance, and sessions averaged 15 people each.
Municipal libraries of similar size in other states
All six of these systems record more visits per resident than this one. The highest checkout rate in the group belongs to San Francisco Public Library in California.
| System | Based in | Residents | Visits per resident | Checkouts per resident | Spending per resident |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles Public Library | Los Angeles, CA | 3,814,318 | 1.51 | 2.01 | $59.09 |
| Chicago Public Library | Chicago, IL | 2,746,388 | 1.77 | 3.86 | $46.01 |
| Phoenix Public Library | Phoenix, AZ | 1,697,696 | 1.25 | 2.86 | $30.31 |
| San Diego Public Library | San Diego, CA | 1,385,379 | 3.65 | 3.87 | $54.01 |
| San Jose Public Library | San Jose, CA | 969,491 | 3.80 | 5.94 | $64.75 |
| San Francisco Public Library | San Francisco, CA | 843,071 | 4.72 | 8.94 | $199.24 |
Nearest in size within Texas
- Harris County Public Library · Houston · 2,281,173 residents
- San Antonio Public Library · San Antonio · 1,868,052 residents
- Dallas Public Library · Dallas · 1,302,868 residents
- Austin Public Library · Austin · 979,882 residents