Phone #: (361) 293-6321
M - F:  8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (closed on City observed holidays)

Children's Services



Children's Web Page Banner

Online Public Access Catalog (OPAC) - search the library shelves right from your personal computer.

Download the Librista App Librista App for Apple, Android, and Microsoft Products to view OPAC AND YOUR ACCOUNT online. Please be advised not all portable devices are compatible.
Meet for a Play Date or simply come by and Enjoy What is Offered at YOUR Library! The children's area includes fun kid-sized furniture for your children to relax on and enjoy a good book; various pretend play items such as a kitchen, grocery store, playhouse, train/Lego table, puzzles, building blocks, learning walls, dress up closet, puppet theater, slide, seesaw, and more are switched out periodically throughout the year so there is always something new for your kiddos to enjoy.

Scholastic Teachables Button - a user friendly education database with 30,000+ resources available to you at NO COST and they are copyright free. Simply logon with your library card number and set your kiddos up for educational success. Learn at the library or from the comfort of your own home. Download more information!

Scholastic Bookflix Button - a digital platform "Where Stories Come Alive" - view books about animals, nature, earth, sky, people, places, ABCs, 123s, family, community, music, rhyme, adventure, celebrations, and imagination. Thematically paired fiction and nonfiction titles designed to bridge the learning-to-read and reading-to-learn mission. Download more information!

Accelerated Reader Bookfinder Button
- What is it? Accelerated Reading, or commonly referred to as "AR" is used in many public and private schools. AR helps teachers track a student's independent practice and progress with reading. THE TESTING PORTION OF THIS PROGRAM IS NOT AVAILABLE TO PUBLIC LIBRARIES; however, we at the Carl and Mary Welhausen Library help support the curriculum. A large portion of the books located in the downstairs area of the library are eligible under this program and marked inside the front cover. Your child will most probably know what level they are on; if not, their teacher will have this information. The books that are not marked or that have AR with a line through them simply means at the time the book was cataloged into our system, it was not eligible. We highly encourage you to utilize this tool to look each of them up before making the decision to not check them out. Staff is also more than happy to check into it for you.

ABC Mouse Button
- FREE access at the Library! 9,000+ interactive books, educational games, puzzles, and other learning tools. Designed for ages 2-8+. Made possible through Age of Learning. this is NOT accessible for free outside of the library as it tracks the IP addresses of the library.