The Houston Public Library will be CLOSED on Monday, October 12th in observance of Indigenous Peoples’ Day. Well see you on Tuesday!

Weather permitting, on Saturday, September 19th from 8 am to noon, the Friends of the Library will be hosting their annual fall book sale on the sidewalks to the north and west of the library. As usual, it will be a Take-What-You-Want, Pay-What-You-Want event, with all proceeds going to support our 2021 Summer Reading Program. Questions? Give us a call at 896-READ!

The summer is over, school is about to start, and the Houston Public Library is returning to our normal hours of service, starting Tuesday, September 8th.  For those of you who need a little refresher, our hours of operation will once again be as follows: 

Monday:  2-8 pm

Tuesday:  2-8 pm

Wednesday:  9-1 pm

Thursday:  10-8 pm

Friday:  closed

Saturday:  10-4 pm

Sunday closed

The library been through a number of different stages since COVID-19 hit Minnesota in March:  completely closed to the public early on, followed by curbside pick-up only for a number of weeks, and then, most recently, a combination of curbside service, home delivery in city limits, and appointments for browsing or computer use.  For the moment, despite our return to normal hours, we’ll remain in this last phase for the health and safety of our patrons, library staff, and our community.  Call us to set up an appointment to come in or simply knock on the front door at your convenience..  

With a state mask mandate in place, we do require anyone over 2 years of age to wear a mask at all times while in the library building.  If you have a medical issue that prevents you from wearing a mask, please contact us ahead of your visit, so we can work to accommodate your needs while respecting the concerns of other patrons.

In addition, take advantage of library services this fall and winter by using our digital collection at meet.libbyapp.com and/or by ordering physical items online at www.houston.lib.mn.us, by calling us at 896-7323, or by sending us a private Facebook message (Houston MN Public Library).   The times may be challenging, but library service should not be.  Let us know how we can best help you as we move forward.  Questions?  Give us a call at 896-READ.

The Houston Public Library will be closed on Monday, September 7th in observance of Labor Day. We wish you a safe and happy holiday, everyone.

As part of our revised 2020 Summer Reading Program, we’ve been distributing kits to local kids with instructions and materials every week from 11:15 to 11:45 am during Meet Up & Eat Up on Wednesday mornings at Cross of Christ Church. Any “leftover” kits are available out on our curbside pick-up table during hours of operation. To date, themes have included: Nature, Music, Color & Light, Puzzles, Science Tricks, Cards & Dice, Paper, Logic Games, Flight, and Build Your Own. Themes for our final three weeks will be All About the Numbers, Space, and Party in a Bag. An enormous thanks to our sponsors for making this project possible: Friends of the Library, Houston Area Community Foundation, SubZero Pizza & Ice Cream, and Thrivent Financial for Lutherans.

Have you been keeping up with the library’s Story Strolls? We’ve been hosting them around the city of Houston this summer to keep kids and their families active, outside, and reading, all at the same time. We started over at the Houston Nature Center with “Up, Down, & Around” by Katherine Ayres, then moved to Cross of Christ Church with “Mixed: A Colorful Story” by Arree Chung. Currently, we are hosting “Good Morning Yoga: A Pose-By-Pose Wake Up Story” by Mariam Gates in front of Valley View Healthcare & Rehab. Starting on Monday, August 17th, we’ll be moving on over to the elementary school with the book, “All Are Welcome Here” by Alexandra Penfold. Weather permitting, we’ll keep setting up Story Strolls into fall. Stay tuned here or go to our Facebook page for more details

Junie and Aurora were in this morning doing their own book shopping. It actually feels like a party hosting patrons inside the library — and it is so heartwarming to see everyone, no matter their age, graciously cooperate with wearing masks, using hand sanitizer, and following social distancing in the building so that we can continue to open the doors to the public during this pandemic. Make YOUR appointment to come in and browse our collection or use the computers by calling 896-7323, sending us an email at hpublib@gmail.com, contacting us via a private Facebook message, or simply knocking on our front door during hours of operation! The library is currently open M/W/F from 10-2 pm and T/TH from 3-7 pm. For the record, we are still offering curbside service and home delivery within city limits. Hope to see you soon.

Get ready! Get Set! Let’s Story Stroll with the Houston Public Library!

What in the world is a Story Stroll? Well, imagine that you and your children are out walking from the Houston Nature Center down to our new Natural Playground — and all along the way, you keep coming across pages from a children’s picture book, each page laminated and mounted in a metal frame in the ground. Before you know it, you’re reading a story as you stroll!

The concept of a Story Stroll was developed in 2007 by Anne Ferguson in Montpelier, Vermont, whose goal was “to combine three critical elements for overall family health: early literacy learning, family engagement outdoors, and physical activity.” According to Houston Public Library Director, Liz Gibson-Gasset, a Story Stroll is a fun and pandemic appropriate addition to the library’s summer activities this year. “We couldn’t be more excited about this wonderful opportunity to support literacy and encourage outdoor activity that lends itself to social distancing.”

On our first Story Stroll this summer beginning the week of July 6th, we’ll be reading “Up, Down, and Around” by Katherine Ayres. Weather permitting, our Story Stroll will stay up along the sidewalk at the Nature Center for two weeks, so families can continue to enjoy the fun on their own convenience. Similar Story Strolls with different book titles will take place around the city of Houston this summer. Stay tuned to our website at www.houston.lib.mn.us, our Facebook page (Houston MN Public Library), and our local newspaper, the Houston Banner, for more information. For the record, our 2020 Summer
Reading Program was made possible due to funding from the Friends of the Library, Houston Area Community Foundation, Sub Zero Pizza & Ice Cream, and Thrivent Financial for Lutherans. Questions about this or any other library project? Give us a call at 896-READ!

If you missed our Wednesday launching of our Summer STEAM Bags, no worries! There are still bags available during our hours of curbside pick-up while supplies last: M/W/F from 10 am to 2 pm and T/TH from 3-7 pm. Our theme this week was NATURE. Get ready for some musical fun next week.

The library will be handing out bags every Wednesday in June, July, and August in the east parking lot of Cross of Christ Church from 11:15 to 11:45 am as part of this year’s Meet Up, Read Up, and Eat Up free lunch program. Questions? Give us a call at 896-READ!

Starting Monday, June 15th, library patrons will be able to use the computers and browse our collection by appointment only. Please call 896-7323 to set up a day and time to visit. We will continue to offer curbside pick-up and home delivery within city limits for our patrons as well. For the foreseeable future, our hours of service continue to be: M/W/F from 10 am to 2 pm and T/TH from 3-7 pm.