Faulk Central Library, Austin Public Library

I had made a complaint about disrespectful staff and was encouraged to leave a comment about it and was never contacted and followed up. Never again. Very negative vibes. one guy gave me attitude when I asked for help and another one was just consistent with his attitude.

Faulk Library is your typical utilitarian library. Staff personality is benign and it has a large selection of books on various topics. I enjoy spending my lunch hour getting lost in various topics.
Word of advice, this is where many homeless folks come to take care of their hygiene needs. Since I don’t use the restroom, I am not affected by the filth that is left behind. In fact, I don’t mind that they come here to clean up. The homeless folks keep to themselves and try very hard not to be seen. I only mention the bathrooms, because people (me included) have a problem with public bathrooms.
Don’t let the bathrooms keep you away, unless you plan on spending the day researching, then you might want to reconsider using this library.

Great service, easy way to find the books you are looking for, really convenient location if you live in downtown or nearby, also easy parking spaces for both cars and bikes, if you don’t live around, and really convenient bus stop righ in front of the building. I love the different options and collections of books they have, where you can find pretty much anything you are looking for and if you have your card you can find the book online and see if it’s available or not, instead wasting time going there and maybe the book is not available. They also have a self check out of books which makes really easy and fast to get a book.

Not really sure how you rate a library… Books, I guess?
Faulk is definitely one of the dingier, dirtier libraries around town but the selection is awesome. And, since APL has e-​books its hard not to find what you want.
No, this is not a quaint coffee shop you will want to lounge in, but it is well-​stocked and the people here really care: they will help you find what you want.
So, read on!

I’m not sure why it’s 5 stars other than the shear size caused awe in my 8 year olds eyes.
It is a place to get lost in.
Plenty of librarians to help when you need it.
And upstairs and downstairs connected by an amazing staircase.
Seemed like they had plenty of Internet computers, which is awesome.
I went with a friend to get her library card and it took less than 10 minutes. Easy as pie.
Except pie is hard. Go to the library instead!

Best austin public library branch by far based on book music and movie availability, children’s section, and theres even a lunch and snack spot! Perfect place to educate entertain and feed your little ones

Pretty good selection of stuff. You can always put books on hold and have them transferred from other branches too. I LOVE the self-​service check outs. They really help beat the lines (esp. when most people just need to get help finding where a book is.)
So yeah, it can be pretty hard to locate stuff here. There can also be pretty insane waiting lists on new release. (I’m really terrible and just put everything I want on hold online so I don’t have to hunt around for an hour and still fail to find it.)
There’s not a lot of parking, but I’m a fan of the bus stop right out front. (It’s a little victory for the non-​car-​having me.)
Free internet + air conditioning + restrooms = homeless people. Get over it. Security is on top of stuff and anyone behaving erratically or rudely will get turfed pretty quick. (I have been verbally harassed by some of the men out front though.)
The workers here are helpful and respectful, but you should not expect someone to be checking in on you.

There’s nothing more exciting than getting your library card. Ok maybe that’s not true for most people in today’s world. But I still felt excited to get mine; it’s like being part of an exclusive club.
Books are my thing. Faulk library has plenty of books to offer and I know I can count on them whenever I need a good read. Despite everything going digital, they have a dvd and a music cd section, which is awesome! If you are a digital kind of person though, they offer online book rentals for your Kindle, etc.
They have several self checkout machines, but I sometimes want the workers to check my books out because I think it makes them happy. If this isn’t the case, then oops.
When you leave, leave through the doors on the right (it says Exit). If you try leaving through the left doors (it says Enter), they won’t open. The police sitting there will laugh at you. Heck you’re gonna laugh at yourself.
There’s a parking lot on the side of the library. Unfortunately it’s not free until after 6pm. Free all day Sunday though.

They have parking, which is good. Plenty of self-​checkout kiosks. Reference desk worker is helpful. Bathrooms really need a renovation. Overall it’s okay.

Since I AM the duchess of this place on Unilocal and since I pay a lot of $$$ in library fines it is only fair that I bestow an update.
They got rid of their vinyl collection in 2012. I know. We are the live music capital of the world and one of the most hipster and we have no vinyl at our central library. WTF APL.
Having said that the CD collection is pretty hip, with boxed sets that cost a lot of money if you were to buy them on your own. My personal non-​book fave is the Criterion DVD collection. They also have blu-​ray. Starting Jan 2014 you can re-​new DVD’s twice meaning you can keep a movie out for up to 9 weeks (unless there is a hold). The movie collection is one of the reasons why I go to Faulk. DVD’s include rare boxed sets, TV series and even the Great Courses DVD lectures. They also have DVD’s of comedians like Bill Hicks and documentaries.
Their new book collection exploded in growth in 2013: so much so that they moved the collection to the 2^nd floor. This is another benefit of Faulk is the massive new book area. The art books and oversized collections make this alone worth it. I am glad to see budgets weren’t cut here after all.
In addition Faulk has a good magazine collection. Only gripes are that you can’t check out back issues and many of the titles go missing all the time. Still, Faulk carries hard to find literary zines. It is quiet upstairs so you can read in peace.
You have to pay to park at Faulk unless it’s after 6PM M-​W or Sunday when it’s free. They strictly enforce this. You can request up to 5 books on hold to be delivered here or to any other branch for pick up (I wish they allowed more holds than 5 as many books have long wait lists). Otherwise you can have up to 50 items out at a time, with the exception of DVD’s and CD’s which are less.
Overall Austin has a good library even if the main branch is dated. The new central branch is slated to open in a couple of years and should be pretty snazzy. Maybe they’ll dust off the vinyl collection and bring it back for old times sake.

Even though you can get books from anywhere in the system held for you at the location of your choice, since this is the city’s largest, flagship branch it affords more opportunities for book serendipity than any of the others. I usually come in with a mission, but the multiple stories of literary goodness tempt me into grabbing something I wouldn’t have more often than not. The staff are usually helpful, which always surprises me to a degree, since if I worked at a library (or a bookstore), I would do nothing but read all day.
I don’t like the parking situation or the seemingly eternal construction going on next door; hopefully the new library will rectify both of those once it’s done. In the meantime, enjoy all the books… for FREE.

No, it’s not a beautiful library, and the front does kind of smell like pee, but out of all the libraries in Austin, Faulk is definitely my favorite. The selection here is so much better than any other library, there’s just no competition. I haven’t taken advantage of many of them, but there are a lot of community classes here, too– computer classes, Spanish conversation, English, etc. I’m sure that the new library will be tons better but Faulk does just fine for now.

ITT: People who claim to be human, whine about homeless people, have the sympathetic capacity of a carrot — and probably the IQ to match. Homeless people don’t have the right to enjoy books? If you don’t like it, don’t go. Please. It’s already crowded in there.
Speaking of which, that’s one of the reasons I really don’t like this place. I go to use my laptop — go to the 3^rd floor, CANNOT FIND A PLACE TO SIT OR PLUG IT IN, ever. AND, a lot of these people ‘stinking up the place’ seem like people with homes, and internet connections, who choose not to use them, coming to the library instead as to take up space. Nice.

I love libraries. I love the idea of places where one can go to hang out and hopefully learn things. However, I had a strange experience at the main Austin library a while back.
I was on the ground floor near the magazines, quietly working on my laptop computer. A family consisting of a mother, father, and their teenage son sat down at the table next to mine. The son took out his cell phone and starting making a lot of beeping noises playing some kind of game on his phone. Very distracting. I went over and asked them to silence the beeps. Surprisingly, they said «No!»
I then walked over to the security guard by the front door. I told him the situation. He walked over and spoke with the family. Then he berated me! I said that libraries are supposed to be reasonably quiet places. He said not anymore.
I was very surprised. When I went home I looked up the rules for using the City of Austin Public Libraries. One of the rules is just as I had said, that distracting noises are not allowed.
So stupid people take their stupid, misbehaving kids to the library and then all of them refuse to behave. The stupid security guard backs them up because he is too stupid to know the rules of the place he is paid to keep secure. What a waste!

Homeless people and libraries go together like chicken and waffles. They are just fine seperate, but put them together… AMAZING!!!

What is there to say about libraries that I haven’t said before? Sure, you can knock the selection, location, architecture, or whatever seems to stick out as a sore thumb, but I can’t help but appreciate the wonders of a place where you can check out books, movies, CDs and the like for free. Yeah, this location sometimes lacks titles I’ve been wanting like Camus’s The Stranger, or anything Neil Gaiman, but that just means I need to reserve them online.
I’ve been to a number of different branches across the city already, and I think that the Faulk Library asserts itself well as the top dog of them all. It’s also the only branch I’ve visited which has self-​checkout kiosks, which is a huge plus for me.

Anyone who rates a public library less than 5 stars no doubt needs a lobotomy I reckon, as it is one of only a couple meaningful contributions that humanity has made to enrich the greater society.
It is also worth mentioning that it is the one public service that the CoA gets right for the most part. Who knew? But no doubt its days are numbered before the city bulldozes it over in favor of another condo to compliment the plethora already in the area, and continue the frenzy to be more like Dallas and Houston and L.A.
The quality and competency of service varies according to the staff person you get. Some are super friendly and helpful while others are pretty indifferent.
The Faulk location has always had a respectable collection with ample availability.

Oh Central Library, Faulk Library, why can’t you be better? Growing up, you were my mainstay for books my local branches couldn’t provide. You house practically every book on which I’ve ever run a WebCat search, and for that I’ll always be grateful. But there’s just no way I’ll ever be proud of you.
I understand there’s nothing you can do about your dated, 70’s-institutional architecture and lack of good parking. But what about your interior? Surely an educated public figure such as yourself would take a little more pride in its appearance — how about some new furnishings? It’d be nice if you cultivated an interest in the arts. Or became a little more social, and provided more group seating arrangements for discussion groups, study groups and families throughout the building. Oh hell, how about just better-​looking and more comfortable seating?
Look, I’m speaking from a place of love. Please step it up, and become the amazing jewel of a library we all know you could be.

I love reading and I love Austin. Austin shows me love in return with its many branches of public libraries. The John Henry Faulk Library is within walking distance from my office.
Today, I walked over to the branch with a coworker on my lunch break. The staff was awesome. I was able to get a replacement card within all of 5 minutes. There were numerous workers there to answer questions and help guide you to your beloved literary work of choice.
Can’t wait to finish what I checked out today and hop on over for more.

Dear Austin Public Library,
I love you. Wanna get married?
Yours with love for books,
Davonne
So I have been to many a library since I love to read and can’t afford new books every 5 seconds, and let me tell you, Faulk is rocking. It is by far the best library I have been to in Texas.
I love this place. I go almost every weekend to explore and I love the design and the great customer service. It may be old but I like old. I don’t get what people are complaining about. Faulk is a library and it’s good at just that– having books and being quiet. I don’t go to the library to use technology. I go to the library to find great treasures– books. They have all the books I have been wanting to read including some great new ones, which I always find in the new releases section. The self check out makes everything fast and easy.
The best thing about APL is that you can put holds on books from other libraries around town and then pick that book at the library of your choice. GENIUS!
Faulk and APL, you rock. And Gov. Perry, you suck. Texans love their libraries and librarians and Faulk is one of the best.

The critics are right. It doesn’t compare to other cities’ world-​class facilities. It’s got homeless people who stink up the place. It doesn’t carry every single book, CD or DVD that we wish for.
BUT…
It is what we have. It’s our very own Central library. It’s got a nice selection of books and DVDs available for free. It’s got polite, helpful staff. Thank goodness because our family couldn’t function without this, or any of the other awesome branches. There is no way we can shell out the $$ for (nor do we have the space to store) the number of books we go through weekly.
Today it felt like we hit the jackpot. We checked out two grocery bags full of recent/​new adult and children’s books. I always get a secret thrill when I’m the first to crack open a brand new book!