 The Library began as a collection of 1200 volumes housed in a
Conroe School Recreation Center and operated by a women’s group
known as the HUB Club. In 1947, the group appealed to the County
to make the library a tax-supported function of County government.
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1946
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1948
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In 1948 the Library was taken over
by the County and a budget of
$25,000 provided. Katherine Ard was hired as its
first librarian and a bookmobile was put into operation to serve
outlying areas of the county
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 In
1950, the Library was moved to a vacant automobile showroom on North
Frazier. |
1950
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1955
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In
1955 a bond election was held
for a new Library facility. $300,000 was approved, and a new
Library, located at 400 N. San Jacinto, was completed in 1957. It
was 10,000 square feet.
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 A second
bookmobile was added in 1967. |
1967
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1970
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In 1970, Mattie Howard was appointed Library
Director
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The
East Branch Library was opened in 1974 in leased space in a shopping
center between New Caney and Porter. |
1974
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1975
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In
1975, Hank Blasick was appointed Library Director |
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South
Branch Library was opened up in The Woodlands Information Center in
1976.Also in 1976, the carport, breezeway, and terrace of the Central
Library were enclosed to add 3,000 square feet. |
1976
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1978
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In
1978 the South Branch Library on Many Pines Street was completed.
The Woodlands donated the site and a federal LSCA grant for
$75,000 was obtained to help fund the construction cost of the
5,500 square foot building.
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 In 1980 another 2,000 square feet was enclosed at the
Central Library, bringing the total square footage to 15,000. On June
21, 1980 a fire in the Central Library damaged the interior and
destroyed many books. The Library closed until April, 1981. |
1980
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1981
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In May, 1981, David
Calloway was
appointed Library Director
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Bookmobile
service was dis- continued in 1983.
The East Branch Library was
moved into the East County Courthouse Annex in March, 1983 |
1983
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1985
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In July, 1985, the Magnolia Branch
Library (2,800 square feet) was opened in the Southwest County
Annex. |
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October, 1986, East Branch Library opened in its own 6,400 square foot
building next to the East County Annex in New Caney. The total cost of
construction was $270,000, of which an LSCA grant was obtained for
$50,000. |
1986
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1987
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April, 1987, Mike
Baldwin was
appointed Library Director.
May, East Branch was
renamed R.B. Tullis Library by Commissioners’ Court. |
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 June,
1988, West Branch Library opened in the Western Hills Shopping Center
in 1,600 square feet of space donated rent free for 3 years. |
1988
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1989
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In December, 1988, the Library
Consultant firm of HBW Associates was hired for $22,000 to perform a
long-range planning study of the Library System with recommendations
for facility and operational improvements to the year 2000. The
study was completed in July, 1989. In August, 1989, a Library
Foundation was formed to help raise private funding for the Library
System. |
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1990, the Friends of the Willis Library obtained a federal Library
Services and Construction Act (LSCA)
grant for $100,000 to build a library in Willis.
In April, 1991, the 6,000 square foot Meador Branch Library in
Willis was opened.
In
January, 1991, County Judge Alan Sadler appointed a citizens
library task force to examine the needs for library service in
Montgomery County.
In July, 1991, the County received an LSCA
grant for $100,000 with a County match of $128,000 to expand the
West Branch Library from 1,600 to 6,600 sq. ft. by purchasing
space at the Western Hills Shopping Center.
In August, 1991,
the Library Task Force gave its report to Commissioners’ Court,
recommending a bond election for $9.25 million to build a 50,000
sq. ft. Central Library in Conroe, a 30,000 sq. ft. regional
branch in The Woodlands, $100,000 toward a new Magnolia Branch,
$500,000 for new books for the system, and $750,000 for automation
& computerization of the system
. A bond election for the Library system was held November 5,
1991, and $9.25 million was approved by a 63% vote.
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1991
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1992
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In January, 1992, the South Branch
Library burned to the ground as a result of arson. However, about
$800,000 in insurance money was made available as a result.
Ray Bailey Architects was recommended by the Oversight Committee and
approved by Commissioners’ Court as the Library architect in
February, 1992. David Hennington was retained by the architect as
the library consultant for the project.
In May, 1992, South Branch Library opened in temporary space of
10,000 sq. ft. in a former grocery store in Grogan’s Mill Shopping
Center in The Woodlands, primarily with thousands of donated books.
In July of 1992, an LSCA grant of $100,000 was approved by the State
Library to help with the construction of the new South Regional
Branch.
In July of 1992, the Library Director
discussed the possibility of joint automation with the Associate
Dean of the North Harris Montgomery Community College District. By
December, 1992, the Oversight Committee had recommended this as the
best means of automating the system.
On November 20, 1992, the expanded
West Branch Library was opened to the public. |
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On February 9, 1993, the official ground breaking
for the new South Regional Branch and Central Library were held.
In March, 1993, the Library received an Automate-Match grant
for $18,600 from Houston Area Library System to assist with
automation of the Library System.
In July, 1993, a 5 year contract for Dynix automation services
was approved by Commissioners’ Court with NHMCCD.
In August, 1993, Commissioners’ Court approved the 1993/94
budget, authorizing hiring 20 FTE new
positions including 8 new
librarians and a Branch Coordinator to help staff the new
facilities.
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1993
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1994
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On May 16, 1994, the old South Branch was closed so its contents
could be moved to the new South Regional Branch.
On June 13, 1994, the new South Regional Branch opened to the
public and the old Central Library closed for its move.On
September 10, 1994, the new South Regional Branch celebrated its
official grand opening
On July 25, 1994, the new Centra l Library opened to the public.
On September 17, 1994, the new Central Library celebrated its
official grand opening.
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During
the summer of 1996, Deloitte & Touche LLP conducted a management and
performance review of the Library System. |
1996 |
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1997 |
Ground breaking for the new facility
in Magnolia was held in February 1997.
Jerilynn A. Williams Library Director, effective
June 2, 1997.
Public access to the Internet was
initiated in September 1997.
In October 1997, the Magn olia
Branch was renamed to honor Commissioner Malcolm Purvis.
On November 22, 1997, grand opening activities were held for the
Malcolm Purvis Library –Magnolia Branch.
A revised 3-year contract for joint automation services was
negotiated with NHMCCD and approved by the Commissioners’ Court in
the fall of 1998. |
In state
fiscal year 1999, MCMLS was awarded a Library Services and
Technology Act (LSTA) grant of $74,725 to upgrade automation
software to Windows-based UniPAC and to enhance information access.
A Telecommunications Infrastructure Fund (TIF) grant of $115,000 was
received for upgrading the network infrastructure and improving
patron access between April 1, 1999 and June 30, 2000.
MCMLS circulations exceed one million items for the first time
during FY 1999; a total of 1,021,324 checkouts were recorded.
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Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation awarded two grants to MCMLS for a
total of $135,000; one to fund a computer training lab, the second
to provide 4 specially configured PCs and content servers to 5
locations.
A TIF
grant of $200,000 was awarded to upgrade public access workstations
and pay a portion of the cost to migrate to new automation software
(Horizon).
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1999 |
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2000 |
In August 2000, the Library Board
initiated long range planning to identify needs and the service
responses, goals, objectives, and strategies to address them over
the next five years. Dr. Julie B. Todaro was engaged to assist with
the organizational planning; Library Consultant Catherine S. Park
conducted a facilities assessment and developed a 5-year master
plan.
Fiscal 2000 ended with record-breaking statistics, including
1,057,882 circulations; 310,619 reference transactions; and 788,730
users recorded. |
A Planning Task Force was convened in
2001 to examine the current and future needs of the MCMLS and to
recommend a master plan for the library system.
Fiscal 2001 ended with record-breaking statistics, including
1,063,826 items circulated; over 345,000 reference transactions, and
878,619 users counted. |
2001 |
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2002 |
January 2002 saw the acceptance of a Facilities Master Plan by the
Planning Task Force. A $10 million bond issue was placed on the
November 2002 ballot for the replacement of the existing R.B. Tullis
and West branch libraries and the addition of a new branch in the
far western portion of The Woodlands. The bond issue was approved by
a 52% to 48% margin despite a vigorous anti- campaign staged by a
group of citizens opposed to higher taxes.
In the late summer of 2002, the
Library System and the Director, Jerilynn Williams were attacked as
purveyors of pornography for
stocking books It’s So Amazing and It’s Perfectly Normal by author
Robie Harris. This attack sparked a vigorous public debate and
attempts to ban the Harris books from the library made national
news. In the end, the Commissioners’ Court voted to keep the two
works in their original classifications and to slightly revise the
Library System’s review policy. Five citizens, one appointed by each
member of the Court, were added to the review committee for
challenges to juvenile and young adult materials.
Fiscal 2002 again reflected tremendous growth in the use of the
Library System, with a record 1,094,744 circulations; over 83,000
people attended Library programs; and an all-time high of 993,045
patrons recorded visiting System locations. |
Design of the three new library
facilities was initiated in 2003.
The site for the R.B. Tullis
replacement was donated by the East Montgomery County Improvement
District, along with $500,000 designated for enhancing aesthetics of
the new building.
Land for the new branch in
The Woodlands was donated by The Woodlands Operating Company.
Philip and Holly LeFevre
donated the site for the West branch replacement.
Circulation for FY 2003 was 1,174,224, an all-time record for MCMLS,
and the 9th consecutive year for circulation increases. 90,591
people attended Library programs in FY 2003 and volunteers
contributed over 13,000 hours to help run the Library System.
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2003 |
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2004 |
Groundbreaking at the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Library, The Woodlands 7/21/04
Ground
Breaking at the Charles B. Stewart Branch,
Montgomery 8/18/2004
Ground Breaking
for the New East Branch Library in New Caney 9/9/2004 |
A New Logo
for the Library System was developed in March, 2005, with the
library vision statement: "Information, Ideas, Interactions"
George and
Cynthia
 Woods
Mitchell Library opens in The Woodlands July 6 |
2005 |
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2006 |
 Charles
B. Stewart West Branch Library Opens 3/9/06 |
 R.
B. Tullis Library, New Caney, Grand Opening 3/30/07 |
2007 |
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