A Brief History

In 1947, the 12 members of the Share-a-Book Club, all ladies, were granted their petition to Commissioners' Court of Fort Bend County to establish a library. The ladies were Mayde Waddell Butler, Emma Lee Schawe Dickerson, Doris Erwin, Fern Garmany, Inez Hochmuth, Maude Wallace Knipling, Kathleen Joerger Lindsey, Angela Joerger McNutt, Lillian Hruzek Meyer, Ruth Beckmann Schult, Marjorie Balke Vogelsang, and Viola Yates. The club members solicited support from civic organizations, religious leaders, and individuals throughout the county. Fifty residents from all areas of the county were present on May 12, 1947, when the commissioners voted to establish a county library.

The first library opened in 1948 with 1,000 books and was housed in the Rosenberg City Hall; the first county librarian was Mary Lee Cooper. In February 1948, Mr. and Mrs. A.P. George donated land for Polly Ryon Hospital and a library building. The first bookmobile was purchased in July, and in November 1948, work began on the new Fort Bend County Free Library building.

The new building opened July 7, 1949, at a cost of more than $50,000, and with a collection of 8,111 volumes. The building was expanded to about 6,000 square feet in 1958, enabling the library to open an historical records room, which housed the D.A.R. collection. The total book collection at that time was 36,594 volumes.

The Friends of the Fort Bend County Library organized in February 1972. In May, they donated to the library a 16-foot book trailer and 1,255 books. The trailer was moved to Orchard in 1975 and set up as a mini-branch, serving the public there until it was closed in 1984.

In 1974, two new branch libraries were opened, both named in honor of the Georges: The Mamie George Branch in Stafford and the Albert George Branch in Needville. Funding for construction of the two libraries was provided by The George Foundation in Richmond, Texas. The site in Stafford was donated by the Fort Bend Independent School District; the site in Needville was donated by the Needville Chamber of Commerce and the Needville Lion's Club. Each branch was 4,900 square feet.

Bookmobile service was discontinued in 1976, as school libraries grew and branch libraries served community needs. In 1979, The George Foundation donated land for a new main library in Richmond. The Foundation also contributed most of the $8.4 million spent on constructing the 77,360-square-foot facility, which was named the George Memorial Library. ($.4 in General Revenue Sharing funds was spent on library construction.)

The new George Memorial Library opened in June 1986. The building included three levels and featured an outdoor amphitheater and plaza, a meeting room, a gallery for exhibitions, a children's theater, a genealogy/local history department and an audiovisual department. A water sculpture on the plaza was donated in 1991.

Fort Bend County voters approved a $10.9-million bond issue in 1989 to build four new libraries and to renovate the main library (including installation of an automation system) and existing branches. In 1990, the Fort Bend County library system assumed operation of the County Law Library, and a mini-branch was opened in Simonton, staffed completely by volunteers.

Renovation of the Mamie George Branch was completed in 1990. The 18,462-square-foot Missouri City Branch Library opened in June 1992, with an opening-day collection of 25,000 volumes. The building cost $2,430,375 and has a capacity for 80,000 items. The First Colony Branch opened the next June (1993), a 19,400 square-foot building with a capacity for 95,000 items, and costing $2,785,587. The Sugar Land Branch site was purchased in 1993, with completion expected in 1995.

In 1995, the second floor of George Memorial Library was renovated to include the Distance Learning and Telecommunications Center, and the audiovisual department was relocated from the first to the second floor of the building.

Albert George Branch was renovated and expanded to include a new entrance, public restrooms and a meeting room in 1997. That same year, the 10,500-square-foot Bob Lutts Fulshear/Simonton Branch opened with a capacity for 50,000 items and at a cost of $1,450,617. The library system upgraded from the Dynix automation system to the Horizon system in 1998.

The mini-branch at Simonton was closed in 1998, as a Katy/Fort Bend mini-branch was opened at the University of Houston/Cinco Ranch in 1998. Katy/Fort Bend became a full-service branch in 1999, when it was relocated to leased space in the former sales office for Cinco Ranch developers. A branch manager and part-time staff were hired; however, volunteers continued to be essential to the operation of the branch.

In 1999, the Sugar Land Branch opened with a capacity for 85,000 items. The 21,392-square-foot building cost $3 million. In 2000, the small-business center that had been housed at Missouri City Branch since 1996 was moved to Mamie George Branch, which received minor renovations and rearrangement to accommodate the business center.

Approximately 5,000 square feet of remaining unfinished space on the second floor of George Memorial Library was finished in early 2002. The space houses two conference rooms, a new computer lab, and additional study and bookstack space.

A new library to replace the small Katy/Fort Bend Branch building was opened in 2004; it was re-named Cinco Ranch Branch Library. The 3.37-acre site was donated to the county by Terrabrook. The cost of construction for the new building was $4.5M, which came from fundraising efforts, a matching grant, and county funds. At 33,500 square feet and with a capacity for 120,000 books, it is currently the second-largest library in the system, and it provides the latest technology for libraries. Wireless service was made available in 2004 to patrons in three branch locations: George Memorial Library, First Colony Branch, and Cinco Ranch Branch.