Giddings Public Library and Cultural Center
Welcome to the Giddings Public Library, a small library with a big heart.
Our mission is to provide accessible resources, services, and events that encourage unity in the community and inspire lifelong learning.
In 1920, the Giddings Study Club voted to open a library, whose first home was inside the local branch of the Post Office. Each member of the study club donated a book to begin the library’s first collection. Since its humble beginnings, the library has steadily grown to meet the needs of the community. The library is now a department of the City of Giddings and is funded by local taxpayers.
We provide many services to residents living within Giddings and throughout Lee County that are not available anywhere else in the community.
People come to the library to check out books and resources, utilize print and electronic references, access the Internet through the library’s computer lab, enjoy free Wi-Fi, view one of the museum-quality exhibits, or attend one of the library’s many free community events.
Our 100-year-old "biggest little library in Texas" features 30,000 books and resources, in addition to genealogy-research materials, the Arnold Smith Native American artifact collection, a Texas archeology display, and an exhibit about local baseball legend Hilton Lee Smith.
Yearly, we host hundreds of programs and events, the largest of which is the annual Texas Word Wrangler Book Festival, showcasing Texas authors and their books. The library's history has included steady growth in physical space, collection size, and membership. In a town with a population that hovers around 5,000, the library enjoys membership of 6,100 because it serves the entire county.
The library's physical size of 19,000 square feet makes it the largest library in Texas among communities of a similar size. Our quarterly magazine, Between the Lines, highlights library events, celebrates library members, and encourages a very literary life.
Come on in and explore everything your community library has to offer. Our friendly and professional staff is eager to serve you.