Harris County Public Library offers books, audiobooks, DVDs, Blurays, newspapers, magazines, eBooks, eAudiobooks, digital magazines, digital newspapers, and streaming movies.
Collections FAQs
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General Questions
HCPL is a popular materials library, meaning that we provide materials for pleasure reading and lifelong learning. All items added to the collection are evaluated by professional staff to ensure that the library’s collection is dynamic and evolving to reflect the needs and interests of our customers and diverse communities. Factors that may be considered are value to the existing collection, balance of viewpoints, timeliness, the accuracy of the information, literary and/or artistic merit, format, durability, and cost.
For more detailed information about HCPL collection purchasing, see Collections Policy.
Purchase suggestions for all formats can be made using this form. Check the catalog to see if we've added your suggestion so that you can place your hold. Common reasons for not being able to purchase items include price, the format you requested is not available for purchase, or it does not align with our collection policy.
If you have concerns about an item in our collection, please feel free to share that concern with staff at your local branch or contact HCPL Collection Development at ms@hcpl.net. HCPL Collection Development policy includes a process for reconsideration of materials. Customers wanting to begin this process may fill out the following form: Citizen's Request for Reconsideration of Material.
Each HCPL branch has a collection of magazines and newspapers tailored to the wants and needs of the surrounding community. Print magazines are becoming increasingly harder to provide, but your local branch staff are happy to share which titles are available locally. You can also check out our digital magazines & newspapers.
We have a small collection of items available in Braille, including board books. Ask staff at your local branch about the availability of these items and they'll be happy to help. In addition to the eAudiobooks available through our Overdrive collection, staff at your local branch can assist you with getting set up for the Texas State Library and Archives Commission's Talking Book Program.
HCPL does not purchase textbooks due to budgetary restrictions. Please contact your school or university library for these kinds of materials.
Interlibrary Loan is a service that allows us to borrow items for HCPL library card holders from other participating library systems throughout the United States. Read more about ILL Service.
We consider information such as census data and community input, as well as the availability of materials from U.S. vendors. Due to limitations on what is available for purchase in the United States through our vendors, we are not always able to purchase materials in a language that we know would be used by those living in the communities we serve.
We currently focus on books in Arabic, Chinese, Hindi, Korean, Spanish, Vietnamese & Urdu. Most branches have Spanish collections, but Aldine, Bear Creek, Barbara Bush, CyFair, Galena Park, Katy, North Channel, Octavia Fields, and South Houston have sizable Spanish collections.
Other sizable language collections are located at the following branches:
- Chinese: CyFair, Freeman & Maud Marks
- Korean: Bear Creek, Maud Marks & Spring Branch Memorial
- Vietnamese: CyFair, Maud Marks & Parker Williams
- Urdu: Barbara Bush, CyFair, Freeman & Maud Marks
HCPL sends retired library materials to Better World Books, a company that recycles and sells materials as well as provides books to communities in need around the world. Harris County policy does not allow the library to resell library materials.
Sometimes books go missing or lost from our collection or they become damaged and need to be retired. Library staff also regularly review the collection and retire items that are out-of-date, in poor condition or no longer of interest to make room for new items.
Due to budget and branch size limitations, we are not able to order copies of every title we purchase for all 26 of our branches. You can place a hold request on the item you want, and it will be delivered to your local branch for pick-up.
Sometimes books go out of print and we are unable to purchase new copies. This happens often with long-running popular series. Sometimes different publishers own the rights to different formats of the same title, so we may not be able to purchase all formats. This happens most often with digital books and audiobooks. Please submit a purchase suggestion for any missing titles and we will order them if available for purchase. For older print titles you might try placing an Interlibrary Loan Request.
"On order" means that the library has placed an order for that item and is waiting for it to arrive. Collection Development orders items up to 90 days before the title is released, so sometimes you see an "on order" record for longer while the library waits for the item to be released. You can place a hold on an "on order" item, but we're not able to tell you exactly when you'll get your item.
Contact your local branch and we will be happy to help you with this process. For more information, see our Gift and Donation Policy.
HCPL branches each have a Friends of the Library group which sells books to raise money for programs and the purchase of new books for the branch they support. If this doesn't fit your needs, other options include second-hand bookstores, resale shops, and an organization named Better World Books which accepts donated books in support of non-profit literacy organizations.
For more information, see our Gift and Donation Policy.
Collection Development staff considers all suggested titles against factors such as the HCPL Collection Development policy, current budget, and space limitations at branches. Please see our Author Submission Policy and form.