The Grand Re-opening ceremony of Fort Bend County Libraries’ Missouri City Branch Library will take place on Saturday, June 1, beginning at 10:00 am, at the newly renovated library.
The ceremony will be officiated by Fort Bend County Precinct 2 Commissioner Grady Prestage, who will be joined by other county and local officials. All area residents are invited to come out and take part in the grand re-opening reception.
The library is located in Fort Bend County Precinct 2 on Texas Parkway (FM 2234), next to the Missouri City Civic Center and City Hall.
The Missouri City Branch Library originally opened on June 1, 1992, with 18,458-square feet. In the 2015 bond election, voters approved funding for the renovation and expansion of the existing building. A 3-story, 11,009-square-foot addition was included to provide more space for meetings, study, and computers.
With a new total of 29,467 square feet, the Missouri City Branch Library is now the fifth largest library in the Fort Bend County library system, which includes 11 libraries and management of the Fort Bend County Law Library.
Designed by Merriman Holt Powell Architects of Houston, the building blends the best of traditional library services with a wide range of electronic resources. The library is equipped with the latest in computer and telecommunications technology, including WiFi and RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) capabilities.
The library will also have self-check machines so that library patrons can check out their own materials, facilitating quick and efficient library service.
The library includes community meeting rooms, study rooms, a puppet theater, and a computer lab for technology classes and general public use. Additional computers will be available for public use outside of the computer lab.
The library also includes a special-event space on the top floor of the addition. This area is available for public use as well as library events.
Visitors to the Missouri City Branch Library will be treated to a special Everbright light feature inside the library. This interactive light wall consists of a huge grid of hundreds of adjustable color dials that rotate. The dials change in hue as they are twisted, offering almost unlimited color possibilities when creating designs.
Beginning the week of June 3, the Youth Services department will have a variety of weekly children’s programs, including Toddler Time for younger children from 1 to 3 years of age, Story Time for 3 to 6-year-old children, programs for school-age children, as well as programs for families with children of all ages.
In the fall, the library will begin offering introductory computer classes for adults. Patrons may learn computer basics such as how to use a computer, how to search the Internet, and how to use Microsoft Office programs such as Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.
A wide variety of books for children and adults are available for recreational reading and research. Magazines, newspapers, and audiovisual materials are also on hand. The library offers ebooks, audiobooks, movies, and music that can be downloaded from home, as well as a generous assortment of databases that patrons may access in the library or from home.
“The area served by the Missouri City Branch Library has grown and changed considerably since the library was originally built,” says Library Director Clara Russell. “When the library was first built, it was designed to meet the needs of the community at that time. No one could have imagined how much the digital age would change all of our lives. Use of electronic resources – such as computers, the Internet, WiFi, and circulation of digital ebooks and audiobooks – have all shown increases, so the additional space will definitely help us meet those needs of our library patrons.”
The summer hours of operation for the Missouri City Branch Library will be as follows: Monday, 12:00 noon - 6:00 pm; Tuesday and Thursday, 10:00 am – 6:00 pm, Wednesday, 10:00 am – 9:00 pm; Friday, 12:00 noon - 5:00 pm; and Saturday, 10:00 am - 5:00 pm. The library will be closed on Sundays.