Friendswood Public Library — Attraction in Friendswood

TL;DR Top notch library; F- quality toilet paper

I was introduced to the Friendswood library incidentally during a search for great places to study during an arduous period of med school called Dedicated. And what a find it was! The quaint family friendly library comes with abundant study spaces with different tailored vibes. Want to learn about the Kreb cycle surrounded by Harry Potter and masterworks of teenage literature that remind you of better times before you decided to be a med student? Friendswood Library has your back! If you’re looking for a more focused atmosphere, there are plenty of isolated rooms and tables at your service. The library has got everything you could ask for in a study space…

Except for quality toilet paper. No matter how great a study space can be, you can’t help it when nature calls. And to be honest, I look forward to toilet breaks. They give me a chance to walk, stretch my legs, and when I finally get to sit on the toilet, I get to contemplate life choices, unload the burdens and anxieties of my day, and meditate. Normally, I’m able to wipe myself of any clinging worries before departing from the seat and back to work. However, on Saturday, April 17, as I rolled myself 3-4 squares of Friendswood Public Library toilet paper, I noticed bits of white powder gently float to the ground, like flakes of dandruff when one scratches their scalp in the light of the sun on an early morning. Concerned but not alarmed, I crumple the sheets to form my usual finger barrier and go in for the wipe. As I proceeded with the stroke, I felt an unsettling warmth brushing upon my hands, realizing that the toilet paper’s barrier integrity failed on me. Further attempts at wipes with disintegrated toilet paper proved futile. Each wipe would only lead to white flakes and powder all over my lower orifice, like the nostrils of spring-break partiers in Miami. And I don’t know why I kept going: was I clinging to hope that one of the sheets would hold its form, or was it the sheer amazement that toilet paper could be this atrocious? Somehow, someway, I had a wipe that came out spotless. Maybe I was clean, or maybe I’d covered my bottom half with a sufficient layer of white powder, but I was done. I got up, flushed the mess away, and thoroughly washed my hands of the ordeal in shock.

Now, every complaint must come with a suggestion for improvement. I am not asking Friendswood library to have Charmin Ultrasoft. I only implore whoever reading this to take into consideration the importance of the restroom experience, to realize that to make a space truly safe, the basic amenities need to be done right. Please, get toilet paper that doesn’t turn into a snowstorm.

With love and appreciation to all who make this study space possible,

A...

Excellent library. The people who work there are very friendly, helpful and intelligent. Love the makeover the actual building received, too! :) 5 STARS!

Update: 3 STARS

Really miss Cliff! :(

I have utilized Friendswood Library for 50 years! I'm having problems getting the books that I request (for about the past 5 months). Sadly, Friendswood Library does not have some of the popular cozy type mystery books in a series (will have a few, but not all) or sometimes they don't have any. I have tried starting brand new popular series and starting older popular series. Their policy of only being able to have 2 inter-library loans out at a time is very frustrating to me because I read a lot. I do not have a tablet, and even if I did, I prefer to read a real book. When I go back to my reading history to see what I have read in a series, the ILL books from my series, at least most, are not there. No author and no book title. This makes it very difficult for me to keep up with where I am at in each series.

Hopefully, the library staff and I will be able to figure something out, as I am a voracious reader and need to be able to procure the books in the four or five series that I am currently reading more easily. I was told today that I am "by far the patron with the most ILL book requests." Like it is my fault that Friendswood Library all the sudden (in the past 5 months or so) does not have many of the books that I am requesting when I have not had this problem for 49 years.

When I turn in an ILL request electronically, I get an email back from library staff that they have my request and are working on getting the book for me and will let me know when it arrives. So at that point, I forget about it. I had NO idea until about a month ago that requests were just sitting there. I was emailing the library to try to find out why I had not received certain books. Certain other non-fiction books I had totally forgotten about.

There is not an electronic list in order of when I requested books, but rather slips of paper without any dates of request on the slip, and that the slips have just been sitting there. Now I have to try to figure out which books to get next out of the slips of paper with no dates on them.

I have spent an inordinate amount time TRYING to find new series to read of which the library will have all or most of the books in a series, old or newer, and I am having ZERO luck with that. I am very frustrated because I have chronic fatigue and the little time that I have energy is being used up by trying to get books that I want to read.

Will update again when, hopefully, a...

The staff is great, and the collection is very pertinent and well-rounded. The hours are excellent and they have an app, self-checkout, drive-thru service, and many programs. The library also offers online research requests, and has some resources available to be used from home as well. It is clear that they try to do their very best with what they have here! An expansion is planned for the next year, and it is very much needed! The children's department is extremely cramped, and does not have enough computers. It would be great if they could have some areas where children could socialize around a train table, dollhouse, tea sets, play kitchens, etc., like every library I have ever seen outside of Texas, as there is not much for children to do in this area for free in the frequent bad weather. The teen area is wonderful, and there is a lot of teen involvement with the library in terms of programming and volunteering. This area is a bit remote however, and hopefully the redesign will fix this. I hope the library won't be closed, or for very long during the expansion, as it will be sorely missed. The library has a group meeting room and private study rooms for tutoring. The library is a good resource for community information, but the adult section also is in need of many more computer facilities. It would also be great if the library set up a little cafe area where they could sell coffee from a keurig machine, and maybe sell some snacks, as other libraries have done to help support their programs and build a sense of community, as this is a very fractured area. The library gets a lot of use, and it is one of the best things about the city! It is unfortunate that the community does not support this vital...