The Houston Public Library opened its doors to the public in February 2002, the result of a two-year grass-roots effort led by a group of hard-working, committed volunteers. Our goal is to provide open access to cultural, intellectual, and informational resources promoting the development of independent, self-confident, and literate citizens.

In the library’s twenty-plus years of existence, our annual circulation has risen from 7,239 to over 20,000. In addition, we have moved from a small residential home owned by the city of Houston to a permanent location in a building donated by Ace Communications Group; run a successful fundraising campaign to pay for improvements to make our new home comply with ADA handicap accessibility requirements; joined our regional library cooperative, SELCO; cataloged and automated our collection; appeared on the cover of “The Libraries of Minnesota, “ published by the Minnesota Historical Society; run a second successful fundraising campaign, allowing us to renovate the interior of the library by our 10th birthday; and been selected as the recipient of numerous grants and awards (Libri Foundation grant, Baker & Taylor 2004 FOLSA award, Minnesota Legacy grants, United Way Venture Grants, Carl & Verna Schmidt Foundation grant, etc).

Despite our limited staff and space, we are proud to host weekly Saturday morning story times, a kids’ builders club and book club, a book club for adults, numerous educational and entertaining programs for kids and adults, our annual Summer Reading program, and the popular “Book Hounds” reading therapy dog program. We visit a local assisted living facility weekly and work closely with the school district to serve all citizens of the Houston area of all ages.

The library is currently run by Director Beth Peterson-Lee with the support of library assistant, Sarah Erdmann.