Chicago Public Library

The staff at this location is extremely rude! Either the staff needs better training or they need to hire more professional people :-(

Shitty, shitty hours. Here at 10am on a Wednesday and they don’t open till noon? What exactly are my tax dollars paying for?

It has good collection but I think they must update with the recent stuff. All the facilities in the library are good. It has a collection of non fiction novels, computers, help desk and play area for kids in the first floor and has a reading room, community hall, fictions novels in the second floor. The response was good for the ordered item with their emails. I think it’s a pleasant place to do our work.

I went here to check out a book. I didn’t have my library card but I had a photo ID and my library card number on me.
No go.
What the fuck? I can go up the street and buy smokes and booze with a photo ID if I wanted to, but I can’t check out a library book? A month ago I had to persuade someone to renew my library card because it expired and I didn’t have a copy of a utility bill — Fortunately I was able to show a copy of an amazon receipt on my phone.
Fuck this library and everyone in it.

So I stand by my original review in that this location is somewhat limited, but I’ve really found that it’s fantastic just to have an easily accessible library edifice, and it’s less important what’s in the actual branch near me. Holds are super easy to use and the stuff just shows up here, I get an e-​mail, and I swing by to get it. I’ve never had more than one person in front of me in the checkout line, perhaps I go at odd hours, I don’t know. I can put on like 5 holds at a time or something. The e-​mail system is great, too – for books, including audiobooks, one can renew I think 15 times, all with a few clicks from the e-​mail signaling the due date (and assuming someone else hasn’t requested the item via a hold). I still wouldn’t advise banking on a parking spot in their lot.
I also recently learned that the library subscribes to a system called hoopla or something that is sort of like a limited Netflix, but for movies, ebooks, audiobooks, and music. Chicago lets you borrow 5 items per month, and it has less than Netflix to be sure, but between this and library holds it’d take me years to run out of things I want to read and watch and listen to. There’s an app that lets you access the items you borrow electronically on a startphone or tablet.

This was my first public library experience in Chicago. The library itself is in a good location and is a nice building. The selection on the other hand is really small. I was a bit disappointed by what I couldn’t find especially newer material. I wanted more options. Also most of the computers were being used at the time and there were not that many.
But everything else about the facility was great. Friendly and helpful staff, was able to use the online catalog a few times, and get a library card fast. The check out staff and reference staff were very nice and patient with me as a new member. I will be returning for sure.

Libraries you say? People still use those? Well I know I do. Let me go into a short rant about the Chicago Library system in general before I get specific. I’ve lived in Toledo and Cincinnati, OH, both of which have library systems superior to Chicago. If you want to request an item that has multiple volumes (comic books, for me) you can’t just go online, you have to call the library or ask them in person, which is annoying. Also, in your first month of membership you can’t check out more than 5 items at a time which seems silly. If you place a hold/​transfer on an item that is available at another branch, it takes almost 2 weeks to be delivered to your personal branch. You might has well pick it up from the other branch yourself.
Particulars about the Bucktown Library: there is no self-​checkout for library items, instead you have to wait in a line and wait for the staff to do it for you. (Once I waited 20 minutes in line for ONE person ahead of me.) The staff seems to be inefficient and not very friendly either. It took me multiple visits for them to approve me for a library card even though I had an addressed envelope from USPS indicating my new address here in CHI.
Chicago Public Library leaves A LOT to be desired, the Bucktown Library especially. I love libraries, so it saddens me to write a bad review for one.
:(

The selection here is pretty small, and it seems to take forever to have books ordered from other libraries. I know it’s not this particular location’s fault, but it really is unfortunate.
In general, this library does the job its supposed to – they have books/​music/​movies and they are easy to find and check out. There are tables to read/​study. Nothing more, nothing less.
The library itself is pretty nice, but always seems overcrowded and cluttered. I’d rather visit one of the coffee shops on Milwaukee Ave. to study/​read, though. It’s all about the atmosphere for me.
Lastly: there is a community room that you can reserve! This is really great for community groups or club events, etc. No food/​drink is allowed, I think, but it’s a nice space if you need to hold a meeting!

Everyone here is just great. The computers were all full and the lady at the desk offered to do just do it herself from her station. Then there was a guy that got up so I can use his computer. There was no attitude, there was only really great help. The people here are all around very helpful and I was extremely impressed.

This is the most stupid library ever. And they don’t take debit/​credit card!!!
The only good thing: it’s free

If you have lived in Wicker Park for awhile, you’ll remember the old library location next to Radio Shack on Milwaukee near Division. Good effort but not really a library if it’s in a strip mall with no partitions whatsoever.
Enter the «new» library servicing Wicker Park and Bucktown. What an improvement! A Children’s section and plenty of Audio/​video materials for check out! While the staff at times are not that friendly or helpful; like any city department, it’s hit or miss. Generally my experience here has been good and it’s a great addition to the neighborhood.

I’m on a quest to visit every single branch of the Chicago Public Library system.
The staff at this branch are very friendly! It’s a smaller space, but it is nice and quiet, especially the reading room upstairs. This is a great space to get work done in. I’ve had a hard time trying to find museum passes here, but get lucky once in a while. If you need a computer to get work done, bring your own or reserve prior to your visit (this can be done on the library’s website) because it is not easy to get one!

I have my 1^st Library card since… well probably High School.
Helpful staff seem to like their job and want to help when they can and free WiFi upstairs in the reading room.
Con’s — when I went to look for a book in the computerized look up system it was so painfully slow I gave up. WiFi upstairs can be a little wonkey at times. Multiple dropped connections caused me to loose some data and need to sign in again to some sites.

Went here to set up my library card. It was easy to do.
I went back and took out a family pass to Brookfield Zoo.
This is an accessible location for me.
Tables and computers are everywhere.
I love libraries.

Not a fan.
They’re okay, I guess. But their children’s section is meh and the weekly story time is pretty lame. I understand they’re at least trying but geez, is it really that difficult to pick out toddler appropriate stories and be aware that children under the age of three aren’t able to process time frames to the nanosecond?
I’ve been going to the toddler story time for several weeks hoping that we’d get into the flow of things but there really isn’t much flow to get into. Except for one thing (as I discovered today): the door to the story room closes and locks at 10:13 (story time is at 10:15). And, by God, no inappropriately late child will be permitted into the pearly gates of story time if they are not at least two minutes early! *thumps fist into hand for emphasis*
A little background: nothing during story time really gets started on time. The door closes and the next 10 minutes or so are filled with children between the ages of 1 and 3 running around, knocking things over, or sitting stony faced while examining the contents of their noses that they’ve mined with their little fingers while their nannies text their friends and loved ones. True story.
Today, I showed up for story time at precisely 10:15 am. Another family showed up at the same time. The door was locked so we knocked to be let in. A minute or so after us, two more families showed up. Then another. Followed by another. Finally, someone came to the door and informed all six families that story time began at precisely 10:15. Those of us who arrived at 10:15 blinked and said, «we were here at the right time,» but were ignored. The story teller chick simply said, «we have another story time at 11:00; you can wait until that one.»
Uh, what? Wait for 45 minutes with a 20 month old to listen to stories that are way beyond toddler level told in a monotone voice? You’re joking, right? Sadly, she wasn’t. So we said «forget it» and left.
Just as well. I’m a much better story teller anyway!

great spot. clean, friendly space. TONS of moms and kids though… a bit scary on a weekday! but, great for the little tykes, and it’s nice to see that moms are at least taking their kids to the library to hang out.
reading is good. =) and don’t forget free wi-​fi!

It seems that if I’m looking for a specific book, I WON“T find it at this branch and all the free passes to the museums are usually checked out. However, most people who work there are pretty friendly (albeit a little quirky) and will gladly locate whatever you’re looking for and have it shipped it to this location.
The Bucktown/​Wicker Park library does have its pluses– they have a super selection of children’s books and it’s good for browsing and «stumbling upon» a great read.

Still love this CPL Library branch! Put a book on hold online, and picking it up here was easy peasy! I needed to ask where Holds were Held, and help was quick and courteous. This place is kind of a madhouse after school, just beware. Still, it’s good to see kids getting their Library On instead of tagging busses!

In case you don’t listen to the news, Mayor Daley has cut the shit out of CPL’s budgets, yet still expects the city’s libraries to be unpaid after school care. If you get bad service at a branch, BLAME DALEY, NOT the overworked library staff.
«Chicago, Illinois — (September 9, 2009) — Unable to get the union that represents library workers to agree on budget cuts, Chicago Mayor Richard Daley fired half of the 279 pages in the Chicago Public Library System. Without the help of the pages, who stock books in the library’s branches, books have been piling up unshelved, preventing patrons from getting books as readily as before. The cuts came as a result of a recent standoff between the mayor and the library employees’ union, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, who along with the Teamsters, were the only two unions in Chicago that did not take pay cuts. — From the Chicago Tribune»

Eh, if you’re looking to camp out here to study, this place is just ok. In the ‘Reading Room’ upstairs, there’s a dozen or so tables filled with people busily typing away on their laptops or staring miserably at the screens. The outlets are located on the floor, so get ready to crawl underneath the table to power up your laptop. With everyone else working around you, this library is pretty conducive to getting work/​studying done. But, it’s not cozy like other places are.
Also, if you don’t have earbuds, then you’ll be easily distracted by all the people walking in and out… as well as going through the cases of cd’s or dvd’s (or whatever the eff they were sifting through. The sound was really annoying, though.)
Some things to note: Bottled water ONLY — no other type of liquid is allowed. Free wi-​fi. Parking available in the adjacent lot or the surrounding streets.