'Not your grandparents’ library': A first look at new West Pearland Library

Residents in Pearland, Brazoria County and the Greater Houston area will have access to a new state-of-the-art facility when the West Pearland Library opens April 9.

“It’s going to be a regional space,” Pearland Director of Communications Joshua Lee said.

The 39,000-square-foot building at 11801 Shadow Creek Parkway, Pearland, offers multiple amenities, including a 100-seat teaching room, multipurpose community rooms, multiple private study rooms, a large magnetic wall toward the middle of the facility that can be used as a dry-erase board and an outdoor space with a small amphitheater, Lee said. The library will also have a tie-in to the Clear Creek Trail, he added.

Additionally, the library includes an audio studio that will be available for rent for recording and child-friendly play areas, as well as the Brazoria County satellite tax office, which will be moved from the city’s public safety building along Cullen Boulevard in Pearland, Lee said. The location will also offer 3D-printing services.

The $19.82 million building was funded through the Shadow Creek Ranch Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone, which collects tax revenue from the Shadow Creek Ranch development, city officials said. The city and county broke ground on the library in December 2020.

The new library, once open, is expected to become the most visited library in Brazoria County, Lee said. The West Pearland Library replaces the Pearland Westside Library on Business Center Drive, which closed in February to move books and other amenities to the new location.

“It’s not your grandparents’ library,” Lee said.