The best libraries for kids around Houston

Houston has four library systems (Houston Public, Harris County, Fort Bend County and Montgomery County), one card works across each, and every children's area has a toy corner and storytimes several times a week. At noon in summer, on flood days and on the first day after a cold, a library is free air conditioning and an hour of quiet.

In the Fort Bend system, Sugar Land Branch and Cinco Ranch Branch are the two biggest in the southwest, with lots of Chinese picture books and dense storytime schedules. Katy Branch in old Katy faces the Play Station playground across the street, and Bellaire's city library opens onto the Town Square playground. LSC-CyFair in Cypress shares a campus with Lone Star College and gives children a whole room; South Regional in The Woodlands sits on Town Green Park. Downtown, the Central Library has an entire children's library on the ground floor.

• 7 places
• 7 free
• 7 stroller-friendly
• closest is 5 min away