Heights Neighborhood Library

Library staff is friendly. Great location with a accessible bike path via Heights blvd. I typically get my books delivered there as the selection is minimal. The buildings interior isn’t quite as regal as the exterior may suggest but still a nice quiet spot to read, study, cruise the web on their computers.

Great, old, neighborhood library. The size limits the seating spaces. I pick books on-​line & have them delivered to this location. You get an email when they are ready and it’s easy to get in and out quickly. Nice children’s area and a study room. It’s got everything I need & best of all it’s always free.

Love my neighborhood library. But the hours posted here on Unilocal are inaccurate. I posted a photo of the hours posted on their door.

This library is close to our house and a great place to study.
The AC is out today– actually all week!
You need to wait to get a computer because each person gets an allotted 60 minutes.
The book selection is limited, but they can get books from other libraries delivered here so no need to drive around the city.
There is limited seating esp after school when the kids are out, but I seem to always find a chair pretty quickly.
Employees are mildly helpful, but friendly.
All in all, an average neighborhood library on the inside, with beautiful architecture on the outside. Three Stars, yo.

This library, at least from the outside, is absolutely beautiful. It’s an old building that is pleasing to the eye, and it is walking distance from my home. All of that is wonderful.
However. As others have stated, the selection here is quite limited, so you pretty much have to go the inter-​library loan route in order to find the books you want. Also, I have to agree that most of the staff here is quite unfriendly, which I guess is just a government employee quality. Do they screen for that at interviews? Sheesh.
Finally, I think the hours are really inconvenient. Because of my own work schedule, I can only possibly squeeze in a visit on Monday and Wednesday evening, when they stay open until 8pm. The rest of the week I guess they cater to the unemployed.
It’s a library though, and I am always thankful to have a local branch in my neighborhood.

I love the oldness of this library. The hours change every now and then b/​c of the budget. The workers are quiet and unassuming, and willing to help anyone with anything. Parking is great. Books are limited b/​c of the space but you can put holds on books & they will have them there for pickup. I think they do a great job and I look forward to my visits there.

Being new to the Houston area, I’ve been trying out a few different places to study (Starbucks is way to loud to get real studying in).
I stopped by the Heights Library on a Saturday evening and this is what I noticed:
Pros:
— Parking is great. I stopped by the Central Library, where there was no parking at all, before I came here.
— It was pretty quite and a great place to get in some serious studying.
— The library is very clean
Cons:
— It is very small. When I first go there I had to wait around on a sofa until someone left one of the studying tables.
— The librarians are not very friendly. Since I was new to the library, I asked the librarian if there were other ares to sit in the library and he looked at me like I had two heads and then just pointed in the area where there were no open tables available.
— The table I sat at was very uncomfortable, The table was very low (and I am pretty short) and the chair was very uncomfortable. So after a few hours my neck was hurting from bending over.

This gem has been well-​maintained & is a welcoming, architecturally pleasing structure; even the more recent (as in last 40 yrs) expansions. So much for the building.
Facilities & function? It’s a small library.
A small library which has everything you could ask of a small library. Online catalog & quick internet access free of charge? Got it.
Clean, comfortable reading areas with plenty of natural light by day & easy, ample light by night? Check. Need to rest your eyes? Look up from your reading & gaze out the tall windows at the hearty old oaks, or just stare up at the lofty ceiling and decorative (not pretentious) crafted wood & plaster architecture.
There are many active groups there, if you like to join in on the social side of this culturally rich neighborhood.
The staff? Look… I’ve been in probably a dozen COH and 4 or 5 Harris Co libraries. This is the friendliest, most helpful & good-​natured crew I know.
Drop in & set a spell. Truly they don’t make ‘em like this any more.

The parking is good and the staff is nice. The hours are slightly inconvenient. I really appreciate the children’s programs and activities offered.

The pluses are aesthetics, ample parking in their lot and on the surrounding streets, great pick-​up/​drop-​off site (after you get your email notification, look for the wall o’ books wrapped in white paper with your surname on the spine), late hours on Mondays and Wednesdays, and they’re open Saturdays. Minuses are small selection (hence, use the online Houston Public Library system for an inter-​library loan and pick it up here) and overrun with adolescents in late afternoon. Peaceful public space on the outside, chaos on weekday afternoons on the inside.

There are a lot of things NOT to like about this branch. Some of the librarians act like they’d rather be someplace else. The place has it’s fair share of crazy and unkempt people. The Wi-​Fi is very slow.
Still, I come here often because the building is beautiful, the parking couldn’t be any better. You can even park on the street right in front if you there early enough or on a slow day.
It’s also a very kid-​friendly place. That can be good or bad, based on your perspective. There are events for toddlers in the mornings and then around 3:30−4 the place fills up with kids getting off from school. In between those times it’s a quiet place.
So.if you want a quiet place to work, in a nice neighborhood and attractive surroundings, I don’t think you can do much better. If you came to sit and read books and magazines, try the Jungman branch on Westheimer.

Nice location for kids – toddlers to teens, not sure about adult books, though.
The last time I was there the place was swamped with job-​hunting adults using the terminals and free wi-​fi – someone was even using the designated catalog terminal so the librarian said he wouldn’t mind taking a break for a minute so I could look up a book/​author. That made me really uncomfortable.
If you want to know if they have a book check it online at home first, and if they don’t have it, request it be sent there so you can pick it up from the cart in a few days. I am so ready for the Oak Forest branch to reopen.
Overall, though the HPL system is excellent.

I like this library more because it is close and cute than for what it has to offer. It looks adorable and I have to love the historical look of it. Go past 2 pm though and the look of it is marred by the teen angst from the area schools where kids wander over to kill time or do who knows what. I feel like an old lady and want to shoo them all away, but instead I try to walk through the wall of pimples and puberty to get to the door. The kids’ section is good enough, we can always find something for my kiddo and I order my books ahead (love the online system) and since they moved the preorders to where the videos and CDs are, they are easier to grab and go. No, the people aren’t all that enthusiastic, but when my son was younger I did appreciate the childrens’ programs going on during the day in the community room in the back. And I know you aren’t all caring about a library bathroom, but this one is always nasty. Of course my kid was potty training and needing to go there… I’d rather him sit on a toilet at a stripclub than the ones there. Odd because this is one of the only libraries that isn’t hobo-​central (see Jungman on Westheimer for that), but that doesn’t keep it any cleaner for some reason. Overall though, cute curb appeal and the HPL system’s ordering system makes it convenient and nice.

This space is pleasant. There is ample parking in the lot, so you are able to walk in with an unharangued mindset… and just enjoy the walk to the front door. The nice oak trees, the older, built to last, almost gallant entrance. It’s nice, the short walk from your car to the entrance, spying the accordion-​esque windows along the way. It’s a pleasant walk. Sun dappled shade. Then, you walk through the doors and see a whole mess of people. Everywhere.
I try to block them out, even the one person who was sleeping in an aisle. Rather, he was lounging on the ground, with his eyes closed. I instead, enjoy the wonderful natural lighting, peruse the stacks I can walk down with out leaping over bodies, and/​or return books. The light is really… pleasant.
In short, this is the prettiest place to return library books.

I’m lucky have this library within walking distance. Becky L. is right though, the selection is pretty sparse. Think travel books from the 90’s and movies that never hit theatres. I really hate to give a library only two stars because I’m just glad to have one.
I’m glad they’re part of HPL, because at least I can transfer a book I find online from another library & pick it up at here a later date. I really love that service because they pull everything for you & have it waiting at the desk with your name on it.
It’s a pretty building in a nice location with huge parking lot; I just wish they had more to choose from. Too bad I just donated a bunch of books to the Kingwood library. I rather them be on shelves where they don’t have duplicates. Well, next time I know.

This place is close to where I live so it’s convenient. Otherwise the book selection is pretty limited and the librarians aren’t very friendly or enthusiastic.
There’s not much space to spread out and work on things and there aren’t too many comfortable chairs that you can lounge in for reading.
The only real upsides to this place are the location and the view out of the floor to ceiling windows when you snag one of the few coveted seats. Oh, and that it’s in the Houston Public Library network so you can return items you checked out from the mother branch downtown on McKinney.