Community

For generations of families in the Spring and Cypress Creek area, the Barbara Bush Branch Library has been far more than a place to check out a book. It has been a homework stop, a storytime destination, a meeting place, a technology resource and, at times, even a refuge for neighbors who needed somewhere safe to go.

Now, as the Harris County Public Library branch celebrates its 50th anniversary, it is asking some of its youngest patrons to help tell the next chapter of that story.

The Barbara Bush Branch Library 50th Anniversary Art Contest, running through Oct. 8, invites artists ages 7 to 18 to create original work around the theme “The Library Through My Eyes.” Rather than asking children and teens to illustrate a particular building or book, the contest asks them to consider something more personal: what the library has meant in their own lives.

That could be the place where they discovered a favorite story, learned a new skill, made a friend, explored a hobby or simply found room to create.

Young artists can show what the library means to them

The contest is divided into two age groups, ages 7 to 12 and ages 13 to 18.

Participants can submit both two-dimensional and three-dimensional work. Eligible entries include drawings, paintings, comics, short stories, poetry, digital art, sculpture, knitting, crochet and other three-dimensional creations.

Performances, videos and diamond art are not eligible.

Artwork must be no larger than 18 inches by 24 inches, and three-dimensional pieces must be small enough to be safely displayed inside the library. Entries should arrive ready for display.

Registration began Sept. 7, and artwork must be dropped off at the Barbara Bush Branch Library from Oct. 5 through Oct. 8. One winner will be chosen from each age group, with each receiving a $100 Visa gift card. Winners are scheduled to be announced Oct. 19 by email, phone and through the library’s social media channels.

Participants are limited to one entry each, and all work must be created by the person entering the contest. Artificial intelligence-generated artwork is specifically prohibited.

For local families, that final requirement makes the anniversary theme particularly fitting. This is intended to be a celebration seen through the eyes, hands and imaginations of the children and teenagers who use the library today.

Barbara Bush Branch Library grew from a community campaign

The library’s 50th anniversary reaches back to a grassroots effort that began before the original building opened.

The story of the Barbara Bush Branch Library began with neighbors who believed their growing Cypress Creek community deserved a library of its own. In 1973, local residents came together to form the Cypress Creek Friends of the Library and spent the next several years turning that idea into something lasting. Their efforts paid off in 1976, when the Cypress Creek Branch Library opened its doors, beginning a community tradition that would eventually grow into the Barbara Bush Branch Library residents know today.

As the surrounding community grew, so did demand for library space.

The branch eventually moved into a much larger building and was renamed in honor of former First Lady Barbara Bush, whose national work promoting family literacy made the connection especially meaningful. Harris County Public Library records note that the expanded and renamed Barbara Bush Library opened in December 2002. A long-running branch book club, for example, was able to begin meeting regularly after the move because the new facility provided substantially more meeting space.

The current Barbara Bush Branch Library at 6817 Cypresswood Drive in Spring is part of the Harris County Public Library system and includes a children's activity room, computer lab, conference and meeting rooms, study rooms, a teen room and a Family Place Learning Center. The branch also offers computer and technology classes, English learning programs, maker equipment orientations, passport services and exam proctoring.

Those offerings help explain why a 50th anniversary centered on what the library means to residents can encompass far more than books.

A library that has changed along with Spring and Cypress Creek

The Barbara Bush Branch Library of 2026 serves a community with needs that would have been difficult to imagine when the original Cypress Creek branch opened in the 1970s.

Today's Harris County libraries provide digital resources, internet and computer access, early childhood programs, job and education support, technology instruction and spaces where neighbors can learn and gather.

At Barbara Bush, that includes a MakerBot 3D printer and other maker resources, along with dedicated spaces for children and teens. The branch also hosts programs ranging from baby and toddler storytimes to knitting and crochet groups, technology activities and other educational and creative events. 

Early childhood learning has become another important part of the system's work. Harris County Public Library announced in January that all 26 of its full-service branches had become Family Place Libraries through a multi-year initiative supported by the Barbara Bush Houston Literacy Foundation. Family Place libraries are designed to combine early literacy resources with support for parents and caregivers. 

The Barbara Bush branch has also served neighbors during difficult moments. During extreme Houston-area heat, it was among the HCPL branches that opened on Sundays as cooling centers, even though regular library services were normally closed that day. Harris County Public Library said staff opened meeting rooms, lobbies and restrooms to give residents a safe indoor place during dangerous temperatures. 

That kind of role reflects how public libraries have increasingly become community infrastructure, especially for residents who need internet access, educational assistance or simply a dependable public space.

Fifty years of use also brings the challenge of keeping a busy library current

Reaching the half-century mark comes with practical challenges, too.

That same spirit of community support is still shaping the library today. The Barbara Bush Library Friends recently celebrated reaching its $65,000 goal for the “Polishing Our GEM” campaign, a community-backed effort to refresh and improve the heavily used branch. The work has already brought new life to several spaces, including artwork and greenery in the Earl Elliott Room, fresh paint in the lobby, updated seating, a new digital events sign, improvements to the Tween area, and upgrades for library staff.

More enhancements are still planned, including a historical corner that will share the story of the library and the Friends group, helping connect today’s visitors with nearly 50 years of local history. The organization describes the branch as one of the busiest in the Harris County Public Library system. 

That history of community support stretches back to the library's beginnings. The same kind of volunteer energy that helped establish the original Cypress Creek library continues through fundraising, programming and advocacy decades later.

Art contest gives a new generation a place in the library’s history

There is something especially fitting about asking children and teenagers to help commemorate a building created through community effort.

Some contestants may have grown up attending storytime there. Others may know the library primarily as a place to study after school, use a computer, make something in a creative program or meet friends. A teenager who enters a digital illustration in 2026 may have a completely different idea of what a library is than a child who first walked into the Cypress Creek branch in 1976.

That difference is part of the story.

The anniversary contest is not simply asking young people to look backward. It is creating a record of what a neighborhood library means now, after 50 years of growth and change in the Spring and Cypress Creek communities.

What families need to know

The Barbara Bush Branch Library 50th Anniversary Art Contest is open to artists ages 7 to 18, divided into age groups of 7 to 12 and 13 to 18. The theme is “The Library Through My Eyes.”

Registration is already open. Artwork must be delivered to the Barbara Bush Branch Library, 6817 Cypresswood Drive, Spring, Texas 77379, between Oct. 5 and Oct. 8, 2026. Winners will be announced Oct. 19, with one $100 Visa gift card awarded in each age division.

The branch is open Monday through Wednesday from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., Thursday and Friday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. It is closed Sundays. 

For families who have used the library over the years, the contest offers an opportunity for the next generation to become part of a story that began with neighbors asking their community to invest in a library of its own.

Fifty years later, those young artists now get to show what that investment looks like through their eyes.

Stay tuned to My Neighborhood News for more Spring, Klein and northwest Harris County community events, library programs and family activities.

By Tiffany Krenek, My Neighborhood News 

Tiffany Krenek has been on the My Neighborhood News team since August 2021. She is passionate about curating and sharing content that enriches the lives of our readers in a personal, meaningful way. A loving mother and wife, Tiffany and her family live in the West Houston/Cypress region.

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