Giddings Public Library

The Giddings Public Library and Cultural Center considers itself a “small library with a big heart.” Its mission is to provide accessible resources, services, and events that encourage unity in the community and inspire lifelong learning. Originally opened as a private library in 1920 by the Giddings Study Club, the Giddings Public Library has been in continuous operation, in many iterations, since its founding. First housed inside the local post office and populated entirely with donated books, the library circulated books at a cost of 10 cents per week. Within two years, the library outgrew its home in the post office and moved into a nearby drugstore.

Several years and several moves later, the Study Club identified a need for greater financial support and approached the City of Giddings with an offer: Purchase the library for $1 and turn it into a municipal library. The city agreed, and in 1938, the library became a department of the City of Giddings and transitioned into a taxpayer-funded public library.

Since its humble beginnings, the library has steadily grown to meet the needs of the community. In 2002, the City purchased a 19,000 ft2 former grocery-store building, and this expansion of physical space made the Giddings Public Library the largest library in Texas among communities of a similar size. Consequently, library supporters began referring to it as the “biggest little library in Texas.” Since 2006, the library has hosted the annual Texas Word Wrangler Book Festival, showcasing Texas authors and their books. The library features 30,000 books and resources, in addition to genealogy-research materials, the Arnold Smith Native American artifact collection, a Texas archeology display, and an exhibit about local baseball legend Hilton Lee Smith.