McGovern-Stella Link Neighborhood Library

Very nice library I don’t know why I never stopped by after all his time I searched it!!! I came her on a weekday to study. They open late and the facility is welcoming! Very quiet until student get out of school of course, they come there to either read books with their parents or hang out. The have an open view since they do have glass walls makes for a great scenery rather than a wall. Will definitely come back her to study! Be aware that after 3:30 it gets a bit noisy.

We were looking for a place to study other than coffee shops, so we stopped by here since it is near our place. It’s in a cute neighborhood and there is plenty of parking! The building of the library looked pretty new and it was clean. We came on an early afternoon during a week day and this place was pretty packed, mostly with kids. It seemed like a lot of kids stop by here after school.
We were able to find a table and there were plenty of outlets on the floor next to each table, which is a plus! Since a lot of kids were there, it was pretty noisy. Also, there were people watching videos on their laptops and even though they were using earphones, I could still hear extra noises.
I got the Houston Public Library card for the first time and the process was pretty easy. I just had to show them my driver’s license with current address on it. I had a list of books that I wanted to read, so I got excited about getting a library card… But this location didn’t have any of the books on my list. I ended up searching for the books on the Houston Public Library catalog and put some books on my «hold» list. I think once the book is available, they bring the book to your preferred library location and notify you.

It can get very loud sometimes and gave me a hard time to study. Other than that, I like it here. It’s not the best but definitely not the worst. They should separate the kids activity area. When they sing together with the loud music, I feel it’s not a library but a daycare.

Remember when the first rule of the library was «Be quiet?» Yeah, those were the good olé days, because that’s not a standard here. Consider yourself warned.
This location is very modern looking and pretty, but the parking lot is RIDICULOUSLY tiny. You want to go early and prepare to sit and wait or circle the lot several times. They offer self checkout which is pretty easy – and quite efficient. The front desk lines get long pretty quickly as it is, so they try to keep things moving. I like that!
They offer lots of programs for the community, including a baby/​toddler story time, so be prepared for the sound of screaming children. And now that it’s summer, there are kids aplenty running around with parents that are too worn out or just too indifferent to even attempt to get their children to behave. Smh.
That said, the employees are pleasant and very helpful. Since my laptop went on the fritz, I’ve been using the computers here to take care of some things, and it’s nice to have a place close to me where I can do that. You can even print for $ .15/​page.
If you need a passport, this branch offers passport services. If you’ve never had a passport and need one, this is a great alternative to the passport agency downtown (which is great, but costs an extra $ 60 just for showing up there). There’s usually a line, so come early – especially now that it’s summer.

Easy to check books out /​in. Seems to be a decent place to read /​study. However the book selection is fairly limited. On the plus side, you can request books from other Houston public libraries and they will be delivered /​held to pick up.

The library itself is fine, but I would recommend going elsewhere for help with your passport. The guy at the front desk who checks your paperwork before meeting with the Passport agent is a total jerk. His response to a friendly, «Hello!» was greeted with stone silence, a look of distain, and no eye contact. It went downhill from there. He looked for every way possible to reject my paperwork which was perfect, requested information that had nothing to do with the requirements. It’s a shame that one person can ruin one’s experience in what appears to be a fine facility.

Recently I’ve been reserving books online and picking them up at this location! It’s super convenient to walk in and get your reserved books from the shelves in the back left corner of the foyer. You can even do self checkout. The hours are pretty good, but change daily, so make sure you check on their site first.

The best thing about this library location is the variety of community events they have available. Chinese lessons, toddler/​kid story & song hour every day of the week, etc etc. The book and dvd selections are pretty standard, and the library isn’t too spacious, but they do a great job making this a community center.

A really great place to study — lots of natural light, plenty of outlets, a good number of desks/​tables, free WiFi, clean bathrooms. The only bummer is that overall its not a huge library so it can be hard to find an empty table and sometimes it can get loud if there are lots of kids around. There aren’t many comfy couches to read on, just armchairs and desks.
Checking out books is a breeze. Find your title in the computer catalog then locate it in the stacks. Things are pretty well organized by topic: adult fic/​non-​fic, juvenile fic/​non-​fic, childrens, DVDs/​videos/​tapes. All the checkouts are self-​checkouts using your library card (all you need is a TX drivers license to sign up). I couldn’t find many of the titles I was looking for but I got them via interlibrary loan instead. There are about 5 – 10 computers available to use as well and they hold free classes on various topics too (photography, website design, ESL etc; see the website for more details:
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The employee who helped me was very friendly and polite; he explained everything about the library system, inter-​library loans (you can request books that aren’t at that branch and they’ll arrive in about 4 days; they’ll email you when it’s ready to be picked up), and lending (typically 2 wks but you can request it up to 6wks w/​o renewal).
They also started doing passport documentation here, which is convenient given the nice location… and if you’re waiting, you can always read a book! :) Check the hours for passport services online before you go, they’re different than the library hours.

It’s been forever since I’ve been to the library. Boy, did things sure changed. It’s all fancy & high tech now.
Very nice library & community events I saw on their calendar.
Anyways, I didn’t come to check out books. Came to get my passport done.
Thank You! For making my life convenient !
Didn’t had to take a day off, No lines, & was out & about in 15 min.
It costed me $ 110 for passport & another $ 60 to expedite.
The library fee was $ 25

I use my library as an escape. This library not so much. The parking lot is small and is unable to accommodate the amount of visitors. Hence, be prepared to wait for a parking spot. The library does not have any study group or private study rooms. Due to high amount of young students and kids, it becomes quite noisy at times. They never have any of the books I want. They do offer an online service that allows your books to be shipped to them, but it usually takes like four days. Not a fan of the hours… for instance, it opens at 12pm on Monday.
This library has self checkout counters which expedites the checkout process. It also has passport services and storytelling for kids.
Not my favorite library, but its the closest to our home.

I’ve been to few Houston library’s so far and this is my favorite library around here. It was very clean and spacious. I really liked the large glass windows and the setting of the study table. The chairs were actually pretty comfortable also.
The only down side is that the children’s room is on the same floor as the study tables and it can get a little loud during «story time» and after school this place can turn into a zoo. Just wish the librarians would try to help keep the noise down. I usually try to come here in the mornings and almost always leave around the time the school ends.