eBranch Blog

January 06, 2005

Press Release: Tomball College & Community Library Grand Opening

Grand Opening and Ribbon Cutting Celebration of the New Tomball College and Community Library

Harris County Precinct 4 Commissioner Jerry Eversole and the Board of Trustees of the North Harris Montgomery Community College District (NHMCCD) invite the community to join them and the Tomball Area Chamber of Commerce in celebrating the grand opening and ribbon cutting of the new Tomball College and Community Library Thursday, January 20, 2005 at 10 a.m. Ceremonies will be held at the library on the campus of Tomball College at 30555 Tomball Parkway.

This 72,000 square foot state-of-the-art library is the second joint library project between Harris County and NHMCCD. The building was constructed with $6,831,210 from NHMCCD and $5,132,000 from Harris County. Harris County allocated an additional $1,500,000 for the opening day materials collection.

The joint-use library became a reality in 2002 when Harris County discovered a perched water table on the property that was to house a new 15,000 square foot branch library. At that time, Commissioner Jerry Eversole and Dr. Raymond M. Hawkins, president of Tomball College, met to discuss the possibility of a joint library on the campus of Tomball College. After a joint committee conducted a very favorable feasibility study in 2002, and following discussions with residents of the Tomball community, Commissioner Eversole and Dr. Hawkins made the decision to proceed with the design of a 72,000 square foot library.

?It is important to me to meet the growing needs of Harris County residents. And the partnership between Harris County and Tomball College is the only way a facility of this magnitude could be made available to the Tomball community,? offered Commissioner Eversole. ?This new facility is a positive benefit that will serve area residents for years to come.?
This joint-use library combines the resources of Harris County Public Library (HCPL) and the Tomball College Library into a true ?community learning center? for the residents of the Tomball area. Students will have the advantage of the extensive collection of materials offered by the public library, while residents have an advantage of the research collections of the college. The library?s first floor features include popular materials and media area, an adult fiction area, a community meeting room, a children?s room with a separate room for storytelling and an Internet caf?. The second floor consists of the college collection, the adult non-fiction collection of the public library, a separate teen room, two computer training rooms, a conference room, eight study rooms and the extended learning center for the college. The entire library offers seating for more than 300, over 100 computers for public access, and a materials capacity of close to 170,000 items.

This unique joint-use library also features a drive-through book drop and a drive-through service window. The drive-through window will allow customers to pick up books they request in advance by phone or the Internet.
The library will be jointly managed by Tomball College and the Harris County Public Library. A staff of approximately 78 employees will serve library users 71 hours per week, Monday through Saturday.

?The partnership established between Harris County Public Library and Tomball College is an outstanding example of what can happen when different entities work collaboratively toward a common goal that will benefit so many people in the community we serve,? said Dr. Hawkins. ?I am proud of the effort that has occurred to make it happen.?

Grand Opening Events Schedule