Most Texas libraries issue free cards only to their own service area — but there are two huge exceptions, both in Houston. Houston Public Library gives a free MY Link card to any Texas resident (you can sign up online), and Harris County Public Library issues free cards to any Texas resident who registers in person. Together they put two of the state's largest Libby collections within reach of every Texan.
There is no statewide Libby consortium in Texas: every major metro system buys its own digital collection, so each big-city card genuinely unlocks new books. Smaller towns pool ebooks through regional shared catalogs — the Central Texas, Northeast Texas, West Texas and North Texas Independent digital consortia, North Texas Libraries on the Go, the Houston Area Digital Media Catalog, the South Texas Library System, and the Hill Country's Lone Star Digital Library — one card from any member opens that whole shared catalog. Watch the dark pins: a surprising number of sizable systems (Amarillo, Denton, McKinney, Allen, Carrollton, Waco, Killeen, Temple, Corpus Christi, Brazoria County, BiblioTech) use cloudLibrary instead of Libby.
Texas has over 550 public library systems, so this map focuses on roughly 90: every major metro system plus regional anchors that cover the whole state geographically.
Each pin is a library system (one card per system). Click a dot for details. Progress saves in your browser.
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