April 2025
    
Fort Bend County Libraries (FBCL) encourages all community members to visit the library during National Library Week, April 6-12, to explore all they have to offer.

Most people know about the wealth of stories available at the library, from picture books and large print to audiobooks and ebooks, but there's so much more to the library story!

Libraries are welcoming spaces that bring communities together for entertainment, education, and connection through book clubs, story times, movie nights, crafting classes, lectures, cultural events, and more.

Libraries also play a critical role in the economic vitality of communities by providing internet and technology access, literacy skills, computer and technology classes, and support for job seekers, small businesses, and entrepreneurs.

The ways in which libraries provide information and services to the community have grown and evolved over the years, as advances in technology have taken place. The “virtual” portal of the libraries’ website is just as popular as the front doors of the bricks-and-mortar buildings. The past few years have seen an increase in the popularity of the library’s digital collections of movies, music, e-audiobooks and ebooks that can be streamed or downloaded from home on PCs or to mobile devices.

In 2024, Fort Bend County Libraries had more than 1.7-million visits to its libraries. Library users checked out more than 3.1 million physical books/DVDs/CDs. At 463,559 checkouts, digital items checked out from FBCL’s eLibrary of ebooks e-audiobooks, movies, and music nearly doubled from recent years.

In 2024, there were 733,421 adult books checked out from FBCL. If the average cost of an adult book is about $19.78, that means Fort Bend County readers saved more than $14.5 MILLION by using the library! This total does not include the digital items that were downloaded or streamed from FBCL’s eLibrary!

In 2024, there were 2,377,728 children’s and teen books checked out from FBCL. If the average cost of youth books is about $13.92, that means Fort Bend County families saved more than $33 MILLION by using the library!

With many resources available digitally through the FBCL website, these free, online services can be accessed at any time of the day or night from home.

Here are some other free “perks” of using Fort Bend County Libraries:

•    Job hunters have quick and easy access to online tools such as Big Interview, a comprehensive interview-training platform provides instruction based on real-world scenarios and hiring practices, offering immediate feedback and ways to improve.

•    Consumers will find helpful online resources such as Weiss Financial Ratings, which is designed to direct users toward safe banking and insurance options and strong investments, while helping avoid unnecessary risk that could lead to financial losses. “Data Axle: Reference Solutions” is a national business, consumer, and residential directory that can be used to research industries, competitors, consumer demographics, job opportunities, and much more.

•    Free online homework tutoring is available through FBCL’s Brainfuse Homework Help service 7 days a week, from 2:00 to 11:00 pm, for students in grades K through 12. One-on-one online assistance from tutors is available in English/Language Arts, Math, Science, and Social Studies – all from the comfort of home or at a library computer.

•    Streaming movies, television series, and digital magazines are accessible online in FBCL's eLibrary at any time of the day or night.

•    The Friends of the Library organizations have ongoing book sales at the libraries, as well as special monthly or quarterly book sales, where the public can browse and find deals on gently used books to purchase. Proceeds from the Friends of the Library book sales and annual membership dues help to underwrite the costs of special programming and various cultural events at the library.

•    Meeting rooms of various sizes are available for use by the public during business hours. They can be reserved online through FBCL’s website.

•    FBCL’s Genealogy & Local History Department, located at George Memorial Library in Richmond, is known throughout the region as an excellent source for family-history researchers or anyone interested in learning more about the history of the communities and towns in Fort Bend County.

•    Master certification exams for careers such as firefighters, EMTs, social workers, nurses, electricians, plumbers, teachers, police officers, and much more with online practice tests in FBCL’s LearningExpress Library. These practice tests can be repeated indefinitely, helping the test-taker become comfortable with the format and materials, reducing anxiety, and improving results.

Be sure to stop by the library to check out these -- and many more -- great resources!