If you are looking for a place to take your group on a field trip, consider the Houston Public Library. The Central Library welcomes groups of children and teens to explore all that we have to offer. Please call ahead if you are planning to bring your group to visit the Central Library for available times and dates.
Here are some things you should know:
- To book a field trip for preschool through 6th grade, please call 832-393-1313 and ask for the Kids room.
- To book a field trip for 7th grade-12th grade, please call 832-393-1313 and ask for the Teen room.
- Our calendar fills up quickly, so please try to call several weeks in advance.
- We book field trips for Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday mornings from 10 am until 12 pm.
- The Kids and Teen rooms have occupancy limits based on fire codes. The maximum number of students we can accomodate is 80.
- We request that you bring one chaperone for every 10 students. For example, for a group of 80, plan on bringing at least 8 chaperones.
- If you are coming via bus, click on the this link for directions to the designated Bus Zone.
- If your students need library cards, we encourage you to have students and their parents visit their neighborhood Houston Public Library prior to the field trip. If you wish to get library cards as a class, here are the required steps:
- Print library card applications from our website.
- The child's parent or legal guardian must fill out the application in blue or black ink only.
- Attach a photocopy of the parent or guardian's current government issued ID to the application. The address on the ID must be correct.
- If you want the library cards to be ready on the day of your field trip, applications must be brought to the Central Library at least a week in advance.
- Students who already have a library card with outstanding fines, will not be eligible for a new card until fines are paid in full.
- If you would like to schedule a field trip to your neighborhood library, please check our Neighborhood Libraries Page for hours and locations.
With advanced booking, the following options are available for field trips:
- Storytime..................... (recommended for preschool-2nd grade)
- Book Care .................... (recommended for preschool-1st grade)
- Craft .......................... (recommended for kindergarten-2nd grade)
- Tour of Kids ................. (recommended for 2nd-4th grade)
- Library Skills ................ (recommended for 3rd-6th grade)
- Catalog Training ............ (recommended for 3rd-12th grade)
- Tour of Entire Building .... (recommended for 5th-12th Grade)
- Database Training .......... (recommended for 5th-12th Grade)
If you have specific requests not covered in the options above, please let us know when you book your field trip and we will do our best to accomodate you.