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 thirteen short years of existence, our annual circulation has risen from 7,239 to 34,579. 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 weight management support group, a book club for adults, two knitting clubs, a seasonal kid’s chess club, our annual Summer Reading program, and the popular “Book Hounds” reading therapy dog program.

The library is currently run by Director Liz Gibson-Gasset with the support of library assistant, Beth Peterson-Lee, and volunteers Lynn Carr and Sandi Klettenberg.