The Harris County Law Library ("HCLL") is a valuable community resource for all, especially for…read morethose that truly need it as a matter of some urgency - which are a lot of people these days, not least of which are the people that are /still/ trying to recover from the hurricane, which can manifest itself in landlord/tenant, family law, probate, and other kinds of cases. For some families, they got one of each kind of case since like Pokemon they truly wanted to catch them all. Staff inside the library are pleasant, which is absolutely noteworthy considering they have to deal with exceptionally angry Pro se litigants and other people who are usually having a very difficult time in their life to bring them here to utilise the library portion of HCLL. Nobody comes here for a bat mitzvah or because they are having a kicky fun time as an adult either - it is usually because they are fighting an eviction (or divorce/child custody/child support most commonly) because they make $20 too much each year to be helped by the harsh mistress of legal aid's federal poverty guideline restrictions on eligibility, but fit in where factually most of Murrica does that they don't make enough to hire a private lawyer either, so they put on their most fashionable hat and take a trip down here to the library to live their best Matlock life poring over high brow treatises and low brow law review articles to find the Chekhov's gun that will blow a hole wide open in their case before their next hearing, or trial on the merits. The Tiffany-style (they are not authentic Tiffanies) lighting fixtures throughout really bring the right amount of glam and Art Deco-adjacent fabulousity to a community space that every community space should strive to achieve to go big, rather than look like it was furnished with discarded items considered too drab for the ICE baby jail on nearby Emancipation Ave. This is an elegant space to be in - a ton of books and Tiffany-style lighting fixtures! Switch out authentic Tiffanies and you've got my man cave aboard the SS Thug Life, so someone or multiple someones had really fabulous taste to make this an elegant community space is all I am saying. This all screams Big Library Energy, making the other libraries have sheepish low self esteem when they compare the girth of their library energy to what you get here from the big dog. Meeting space in the "related" County Attorney Conference center (which is also where you vote in the elections) is very nice. And as a primo early voting location you never need to wait long in line to vote and go about your day since most people want to go to the one on West Grey to observe a landfill's worth of visual pollution with all of those signs out there polluting our environment and harshing our mellows as we drive that stretch to get to the local Taco Bell on Vermont. For real, we're not voting for you, SUSAN, no matter how many garish signs you put in front of our eyeballs, for real. Meanwhile when you park and bark here downtown, no political signs anywhere. Plus there are multiple bars nearby to reward yourself for being a sophisticated member of the voting public that harshly judges candidates for things they said 40 years ago. Voting is not complete without a swig of the Jagermeister at one of the nearby watering holes to remind you of the bitter history of western democracy, similar to some of the things you eat and drink at Seder to reflect on the bitter history of the past several thousand years. As civil rights leader Lord Voldemort would say, thanks for being here for everyone in the community in a variety of different ways, HCLL.

This facility is an excellent resource for the public. Added bonus: Notaries are always available,…read moreat no cost.

This place is a joke seriously, made an appointment and got about 5 mins late. Didn't have my debit…read morecard and the girl said she couldn't take it . So basically walked out. They needa shut this place down seriously it's a joke and front dest is a joke too .

I feared this process was gonna be an awful ordeal. But I was pleasantly surprised. The building…read morewas a piece of cake to find. We got a front-row shady parking space. And the office was easy to find inside the building. The waiting area was clean and attractive. The staff was courteous to everyone who rolled through there in the steady stream of TWIC card-seekers. BEST of all, my significant other had finished the whole process (ID verification, DNA mouth swab, retinal scan, and fingerprinting) in less than 30 minutes. I left feeling relieved and stunned by the ease and pleasantness of the entire experience. Great job, Turning Basin TWIC card office!

Library isn't what I expected it to be, it's the smallest Harris County Library I've been to, and…read morefor the most part the quietest.. ..Unless someone decides to bring their noise-maker child in that just disrupts everybody's calm and peaceful mood. That really ruins a nice study time to have to hear crying all the time, parents not doing anything to control the brat and either are the librarians. The only ones suffering are the patrons. On top of that, the librarians in which I thought were nice and sweet at first suddenly turn sour to racially profile two black females out of a majority population of Hispanics. One librarian had the audacity to question my sister about her T-shirt and then tell my sister that she shouldn't be wearing it because she doesn't attend that university. First of all, why is it any of that nosy-rosy librarian business to ask a question like that? Uhh, my response to her would have been its none of your business that's why I'm wearing it and do you have a problem with what I'm wearing, and is it such a crime in your beliefs that I'm wearing a t-shirt to a university that I do not attend?!! Silly woman, tricks are for kids. Aside from that, the same ignorant woman asks us if a Border Terrier was ours, out of a whole library full of other people. Does she think we are hoodlums who doesn't know that only service dogs are allowed in public places because my dog is at my house sleeping in his bed. She asks us out of everyone in the library if the dog is ours. We are both clueless to how the dog got into the library, all we know is the dog walked to the table we were sitting at and laid under the chair to bite its skin...and she had the audacity to ask us that silly question after when we walked in she harassed my sister. She must not be taking her medicine if she thinks she can treat us any kind of way. It's a good thing this library isn't easy to find; located in a Hispanic neighbourhood with barely any other race and they think they treat outsiders any kind of way and this is in fact America and not Mexico. They better get their mind right! Anywho, the library selection is minimum, a few audiobooks I found a good (English) audiobook, though most of the books are only in Spanish which it already seems they cater to one type of ethnicity. They do have magazines in English, even MAD TV magazine I enjoyed giggling at. The parking lot is small which isn't a norm for HCPL's. I do like that they have free crocheting classes every last Thursday of every month which is a nice treat, but I'll just stick to Parker Williams library that mostly caters to the Vietnamese population while treating it's other non-Asian patrons with respect.

South Houston is considered Pasadena to some folks and to others it is considered just Houston. Old…read moreGalveston Rd & Spencer Hwy is not quite Houston. But no worries, if you find it you find it. But Ave A is not quite a memorable address. It almost makes you fiddle your thumbs a bit to figure out where the heck this library is. If you know that College runs from 45 to Hwy 3 and eventually turns into Spencer then you might locate it. Anywho-- It is a library, located not on the ridgid nor smoothest street. The parking lot is less than full & smallest to none. No one said ever. Once you enter you'll notice most doors are open. No, I'm not talking about for opportunities unless those opportunities are taking a dump & entering to a questionnaire librarian. As I approach the doors. One of the librarians asked me if I go to U of H. Only because I was wearing an Earth Day University of Houston t-shirt. I replied no, I attend San Jac (San Jacinto college). The librarian replied saying, "So, why are you wearing that shirt"? Out of all the options of flipping that question to answer rudely, politely, or sarcastically. I just answered, because I won it at the Earth Day festival downtown. Now, if any of you'll know me. You know, I would've answered rudely or sarcastically. Not bluntly, the truth & which I should've said, because I want to wear this shirt. Afterwards, of being questioned once. My sister & I began to do what we do. Laugh uncontrollably & eat our snack in the back of the library while browsing a MAD magazine. Next thing we know, a Border terrier mysteriously enters the library. How does a dog as small as a terrier enters a library on its own? It walked straight back towards the end of the library where me and sister was. Strangely, it could've walked anywhere in the library. But for the female dog to walk that distance and determination to where we was is odd. So, the librarians were eventually notified about the dog in the library. The same librarian that confronted me once, confronted me a second time. This time, she had the nerve to ask. If the dog was mine. Now, I was thinking but didn't say. Which I should've. I said to myself, "Didcha see me bring a dog inside"? "I mean comon' you interrogated me about my shirt". "I would've thought you would've noticed dog too". "Is it yo dog?!" Yes, I would've said that. But this time, I only said. "No, it isn't". The librarian was brave to interrogated me. But was timid & scared to touch & grab the none vicious dog. That made me laugh a little. She approached me and said, "the dog has fleas", "I tried to call for it, but it didn't come", "it comes in all the time & is always around". She instead used a bag to tie around the dog collar and was going to jerk & pull it from underneath my chair. So, instead of her choking the dog which was planning on doing. I just simply grabbed the dog for her and pulled it from underneath my chair and gave it to her. She still persistent to yank the dog with her makeshift leash. I shook my head and not once did I hear a thank you from her for grabbing the dog. Because I know for a fact. She would've been there all day trying to get that dog. I'm thinking at this point. Why the H did she ask me the first time if the dog, yes dog was mine.. ??! If she knew in the beginning the dog is a frequent visitor at that library. It just boggles my mind a bit. I don't come in there everyday. And the dog could've just had dry skin not fleas. I mean, humans scratch themselves when our skin or scalp is dry. She as I see now, is not very knowledgable and does not think before she speaks. She ended up calling animal control on the Border terrier. I just hope Animal control didn't euthanize the dog. That's South Houston library for you!

I love that every time I come here there's always something I'm bound to find at their book sale…read more Today's gems were some 5 for $1 magazines (for scrapbooking) and two texts featuring the life of George Floyd and a Barack Obama's presidency (written by renowned author and essayist, Ta-Nehisi Coates). They also have new furniture! Very clean and sturdy. And as always, a thematic book round table was carefully curated. This time it honored Genealogy Month. Their October 2026 calendar is full of some classic Black films, too! I love that!

Nice & quiet, just how I like a library. Small and cozy. Library staff are very helpful if you need…read morethem to be.

As an older and frequent user of this branch, it pains me to always walk in and NEVER see a black…read moreor brown face on staff. I remember coming here (the former location) as a little girl and the longstanding librarian (an African American woman) who worked here for years was THE BEST - friendly, knowledgeable, and hardworking!!! She even encouraged community involvement in the form of book clubs and community partnerships because she actually knew the community and cared. This team is lazy and knows NOTHING! Several times I've been in to ask about a particular book or author and they are clueless. They have to ask each other then look on the computer but never know (for themselves) anything about say, books. Numerous times I've walked in to see them all sitting and chatting as if it's social hour. Patrons can be loud, children running around and they say nothing. (I NEVER saw the aforementioned librarian just sitting idly. She was always in the stacks or pushing a cart or actually helping patrons!) Recently, I visited to retrieve (check out) a book I'd put on "hold". I found the book on the shelf, by myself, and proceeded to the counter with my card for it to be checked out. The fair skinned young lady, sitting at the desk just kept looking at me and finally asked what I needed. When I attempted to give her my card, she pointed to a machine nearby telling me they no longer actually check out books, it's only done on the machine. Awful! (How hard would it have been for her to simply scan my card?) The finale came when I scanned my card and was asked to input my "pin". Why, I need a "pin" for my library card just seems senseless and trivial. I asked the woman for my pin to which she replied that she could "reset" it for me. When I told her *repeatedly* that I DID NOT want my pin reset, she proceeded anyway! Then, instead of writing it down on a post it (privately) she told me she'd made it my birth year, then YELLED it out (as if I don't know what year I was born.) Again, AWFUL customer service and incompetent staff. Please, find folks who know and care about the patrons here!!!

Nice place to study or take the kids to find some new books to read. Clean and quiet.read more

I'm trying to renew my passport by mail through the Houston consulate because I live in a state…read moreunder its jurisdiction. I submitted the required documents online, but my application is still under review. I've tried calling and emailing for an update, but I haven't received any response.

This is the place to be if you are having a hard time applying for an E-Visa online. The man at the…read morewindow was very helpful and professional. My friends came this morning for their Visa and was very happy with the service. Grade A

Quiet, obviously. Never see anything out of place. They are divided into sections: children,…read moreteen/young adult and adult. Has computers for use. Copies or printing 10 cents a copy. Helpful staff. Open til 9pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays!

My family enjoys this library very much. The staff is always very helpful, and the children's…read morelibrarians keep up with the newest in children's literature, which is fantastic for a smaller city library. The children's area features an awesome tree to sit in or around, my kids love it. There are several small tables and puzzles for the littlest patrons too. It is usually calm and quiet when we visit. I like how they ask adults without children to leave the children's area open just for that group, so they will have their own space to sit and read. They do offer lots of extras, such as knitting classes, story times, and visiting authors and local historians. I've been a member of this library since I was five years old, and I love that my own kids can enjoy it too.

I recently tried to apply for my daughter's passport at the Alief Post Office. They were incorrect…read moreabout their information pertaining to a form my husband had filled out in lieu of his presence and hung up as I tried to explain what the 1-800 # had stated about the form. I decided not to attempt getting the passport from them so I was back to the drawing board to find another walk-in facility in Houston to quickly expedite her passport. I called the passport 1-800 # again to double check information and was informed of the Henington-Alief Regonal Library to obtain her passport. They are walk-in service, so no appointment to worry with, and we were out within 45 minutes! Plenty of parking outside of the library, at least when we arrived, places to sit while waiting your turn and a friendly, accommodating staff, but do prepare ahead with all necessary documents to avoid having to leave and come back. They work quickly to get through all present. I would absolutely return to this library for all future passport needs. I'm glad we ended up at this place. Great experience!