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Houston Public Library is the public library system serving Houston, Texas.

It can trace its founding to the Houston Athaneum in 1854. After a large contribution from Andrew Carnegie it was chartered as the Houston Lyceum and Carnegie Library in 1904. Julia Ideson was named its first librarian. The building constructed as Houston's Central Library in 1926 was later named in her honor.

The name was changed to Houston Public Library in the 1920s.

The library system now consists of 30 neighborhood libraries, six regional libraries,the Clayton Library Center for Genealogical Research and the Central Library, located Downtown. Central Library, often incorrectly called the "Downtown Library", consists of the Julia Ideson Building and the Jesse H. Jones Building (1976). The Jones Building was designed by Seth Irvin Morris ([1]) The Jones Building closed for renovations in April 2006. The Clayton Library, located in the Museum District is under the jurisdiction of the Central Library.

Over the past several years two new library buildings have been constructed and many others have been renovated. The newest branch is the McGovern-Stella Link Regional Library, which opened in January 2005. The Looscan Neighborhood Library in the River Oaks neighborhood is under construction as of 2006. The old non-Americans with Disabilities Act compliant library, which was opened in 1956, closed on August 27, 2005 and was demolished in February 2006. The new library is scheduled to open in late 2007 [2].

In addition to the Central Library and Clayton Library, there are 30 neighborhood libraries and six regional libraries in the system, all located within the city of Houston.

• Acres Homes Neighborhood Library (Acres Homes)
• Bracewell Neighborhood Library
• Carnegie Regional Library
• Collier Regional Library
• Dixon Neighborhood Library
• Fifth Ward Neighborhood Library (Fifth Ward)
• Flores Neighborhood Library (Second Ward)
• Frank Neighborhood Library (Fondren Southwest)
• Freed-Montrose Neighborhood Library (Neartown)
• Heights Neighborhood Library (Houston Heights)
• Henington-Alief Regional Library (Alief)
• Hillendahl Neighborhood Library (Spring Branch)
• W. L. D. Johnson Neighborhood Library (Sunnyside)
• Jungman Neighborhood Library (Uptown)
• Kendall Neighborhood Library (Memorial)
• Lakewood Neighborhood Library
• Looscan Neighborhood Library (River Oaks)
• Mancuso Neighborhood Library
• McCrane-Kashmere Gardens Neighborhood Library (Kashmere Gardens)
• McGovern-Stella Link Regional Library (Braeswood Place)
• Melcher Neighborhood Library
• Meyer Neighborhood Library (Meyerland/Westbury)
• Moody Neighborhood Library
• Oak Forest Neighborhood Library (Oak Forest)
• Park Place Regional Library (Park Place)
• Pleasantville Neighborhood Library (Pleasantville)
• Ring Neighborhood Library (Spring Branch)
• Robinson-Westchase Neighborhood Library (Westchase)
• Scenic Woods Regional Library (Scenic Woods)
• Lonnie E. Smith Neighborhood Library (Third Ward)
• Stanaker Neighborhood Library
• Stimley-Blue Ridge Neighborhood Library (Fort Bend Houston)
• Tuttle Neighborhood Library (Denver Harbor)
• Vinson Neighborhood Library
• Walter Neighborhood Library (Sharpstown)
• Young Neighborhood Library (Palm Center, near South Park)

In addition, HPL has a partnership with the Harris County Public Library's Clear Lake City-County Freeman Branch Library in the Clear Lake City community of Houston.

Also, the Parent Resource Library in the Children's Museum of Houston is considered part of the Houston Public Library system; however, its staff are employed by the museum, rather than the City of Houston.

• Colored Carnegie Library (Opened 1912, became HPL branch in 1921, officially closed on July 31, 1961, demolished 1962 and replaced with an extension of Clay Avenue)

• Houston Public Library Web site