San Antonio Public Library

Going to a San Antonio public library can be a wonderful experience for children of any age, especially if they already love books. Libraries are located in every area of the city, so no matter where you stay while you are visiting San Antonio, there is a public library near you.

Each library has special story times and some show movies, have craft classes, and hold puppet shows and magic shows during the year. Besides the Central Library downtown at 600 Soledad, there are 24 other branches all around the city. Three of them are close enough to our house so that we call all three "our library."

There are classes of interest for adults, as well as for teens and children. Some of the adult classes are for tax preparation, cooking, crafting, computer classes, computer programming classes and internet safety for parents and their children. You will find many of these classes helpful and they are free. Just show up 30 minutes prior to the start of class to sign up. No pre-registration is required. Signing up is first come, first serve.

At certain times of the year, there are exhibits on display at the libraries as well. These can be about almost anything. I have seen old collections of cars, dolls, electronics, and artwork.

A free family-friendly outing is a trip to our downtown San Antonio library at 600 Soledad Street, pictured above.
This is a beautiful seven story building opened in 1995, filled with light and color and tons of books!

If you are running low on funds while you are on vacation, you can take your children to the San Antonio downtown library for several hours of fun. There are paintings, unique architecture features, and water inside the building.

The building has an open design so you can look down from one floor to another. Our whole family loves this library.

This beautiful building stands in contrast to the surrounding buildings. It is painted in the color of what is known around town as "enchilada red," pictured above, and it gets a lot of attention.

Because it is downtown, parking after the first hour is not free. If you have the check out desk validate your ticket, the first hour is free.

While it is true that you cannot check books out as a tourist, there are many activities that you can participate in at this San Antonio Library.

There is a great children's book section for the kids to spend time in. They can choose some books to read and sit down at pint-sized tables and enjoy the books. There are also story telling times during the week and free movie showings for the whole family to enjoy. In the summer, there are children's craft classes for different ages. There are puppet shows to enjoy. There are also adult classes on a variety of subjects, including crafts, tax workshops, etc.

Books are great for the whole family. If you would like to pick up some great gifts for your family, go to the basement of this library where you can buy used books for everyone. Most are good hardcover books and the money supports the library so you are giving to a good cause and getting your kids to read at the same time. You can pick up some great buys cheap--most books cost between 25 cents and $1! We also have other libraries all over town.