Free Library of Philadelphia – Walnut Street West

This is a small branch of the Philadelphia Public Library, and it’s very convenient for those of us who live or work in University City. There is a decent collection of reference books, 10 – 12 computers that are available for use, a printing station, and plenty of chairs and tables. Of course, there are books of all sorts also. DVDs and CDs are also available to borrow. The downstairs portion of the library has a pickup section for books that patrons have put on hold.
Also, a small room has free weekly ESL classes courtesy of Penn. On Thursdays in spring and Fridays in the summer, there is a weekly outdoor book sale (weather-​permitting). There are many children’s activities, such as story time, chess instruction, and role play clubs that occur here.
Though it is small and its hours are somewhat restricted, the staff is pleasant and helpful, and there’s free wifi. An outdoor Dropbox for books is located on 40^th Street.

Very convenient location (at least for those of us in University City), but not necessarily the most useful. The hours are relatively restrictive, so I suppose that’s why they change up the hours every other day. This definitely gets confusing, but at least you should be able to stop by either before or after work some day of the week.
I wouldn’t recommend visiting with the intent to find a specific book, especially for adult ones — you’re much better off reserving it on the Free Library website and picking it up right at the front desk a week or so later. (They could definitely be more efficient with the transit, but at least the selection is good.) Upon my first visit I found a few classics I’d read, but even the on-​site DVD section wasn’t that interesting to me. At least the Free Library system is very generous with your limits — 40 books at 10 renewals each and 10 DVDs!
Although this library isn’t the quietest, the interior is pretty nice and I love the window that faces Walnut! I really wish more college students utilized this nearby Free Library for leisurely reading, though it just looks like an easily missed, whitewashed building coming from the Penn campus.

The library a Walnut Street and 40^th Street is a nice spot. Our caregiver has taken our 2 ½ year old daughter there a number of times. She often goes for story time for the kiddies, but has also gone on the fly because our daughter likes it a lot.
After hearing about it, I finally got to visit it myself for the first time. The Saturday before Easter, they advertised a free Easter egg hunt. They had two, one for older kids, and this one for the 5 and under group. My daughter was super excited.
The library itself is nicely set up. It’s small, but packs a punch. While the event turned out very good, it started out as feeling like a bait and switch. Since I am not holding the mismanagement of the event against the library itself, I am giving it 4 stars. But the event deserves 3 stars.
I will start with the bad. I received e-​mails and saw ads online for the event. When we arrived, on the door it said we were to bring our own baskets. I did a mad scramble to CVS only to find they had no baskets. I grabbed a cheap plastic bag thinking it will have to do. After we got in, we learned they had bags for those who did not bring baskets. That would have been nice to know.
Next, we had to sit through story time, which was not at all advertised. By the time book 4 rolled around, my daughter was screaming bloody murder about wanting to find Easter eggs. After all, she was only told we were there for an Easter egg hunt. I had to pull her away from the group as she was wailing. Side note: The women leading the story time did a good job. Had we been prepared, it would have been fine.
Then, we had some arts and crafts time, another thing that was not advertised. It too was nice, we just were not prepared. Thanks to the person in a bunny outfit, our daughter was distracted.
So, the sum it up, the biggest cons were how they communicated. The rest was fine.
Then, we went outside for the egg hunt. There must have been over 200 eggs and 40 or so kids. When they said go, not even 60 seconds passed before they were all gone. My daughter was a little overwhelmed, but managed to score 6 eggs. Perhaps the few 6 – 10 year old kids made it harder for the true 5 and under kids. I don’t blame the library though, because its hard to tell a kid they are too old for the egg hunt. This one is on the parents.
After the egg hunt, each kid got a cupcake and stuffed animal. This was a very nice ending to a falsely advertised, but actually very good, event.

The selection in this library is really small. The woman at the front desk wasn’t very nice. And the place seems kind of dirty. What really grossed me out was when I picked up a book, opened the front cover, and there was a bug crawling around inside of it. Ew!

Possibly the best-​lit branch in the system. Pleasant staff, civil patrons. Clean computers. Usually, this branch is out of my way, but given my choice, a transpass, and the time, this would be one of the branches I would choose to go to.

Walnut Street West is a compact, kid-​friendly library with a lot to offer. The building itself is bright and airy, with cheerful walls and photos of the building’s renovation. There are meeting/​event rooms downstairs and the collection is upstairs. Lots of seating and computers make it a great place to go to get work done, or just to do some quiet reading.
The summer reading programs for children, teens and adults are great ways to involve the whole family in boosting their amount of reading. With incentives like raffles and weekly prizes for kids, the library seeks to truly engage readers of every stripe.
This library gears their services and collection to a population that is primarily families and children, so expect a great selection for kids and teens and a smaller selection of items for adults. Inter-​library loan is available, and that means you get to order books in from any library in the system without having to go there. If what you’re looking for isn’t at Walnut West, chances are they can get it in for you ASAP.
A beautiful library with great librarians and a decent collection. What more could you ask for?

I’m sorry to say, but Philadelphia’s Library system is pretty below par… especially since we’re the city that had the first library system in America!
This location’s hours of operation are very small (as are, I guess most of them these days) — so you need to really plan and be aware of when you can /​cannot visit.
The selection is not great… but if you go in there with an open mind and are just browing… then you’ll likely get something that suits your needs!
The best part of the library system is that you can go online and reserve books at your local branch. This has saved me many times.
As for the crowd — I’ve definitely seen homeless people sleeping at the tables in this library. However, I’m glad we do have this resource here to serve the people who might not otherwise get a chance to read books.
Also, I appreciate the free pamphlets, flyers, and sometimes even free books or magazines that are gathered at the front entrance. Very cool.
Overall, the library could be greatly improved. However, thankfully it has not been shutdown… and it serves the better purpose.

Is it small? Yes. It is usually full of little kids? Yes. Is the selection a bit touch and go? Yes. Are the hours occasionally inconvenient? Yes.
That said, the Walnut St. West branch of the Free Library serves its role well. Even if the selection is limited, I can always find a book I’ve been meaning to read or a DVD that I’ve wanted to watch.
With annual scares over whether there will be a budget for the library system, there’s really more to love about Walnut St. West than not. Serving a community that includes everything from young punks to recent immigrants, the library crams a lot of services and functions into one building. It might not be the most extensive and it might get a little overrun with kids, but it’s certainly better than no library at all.

One of the most heavily used libraries in the Philadelphia system. Good selection of materials and fairly friendly staff. You can have books, CDs, and movies sent to this branch for you to pick up if they don’t have it.
For nearly ten years, the original Carnegie-​endowed landmark building was closed, supposedly for ‘water in the basement’ (called a ‘stream’ by some), while the local university hoped to expand their campus property line out to the corner of 40^th and Walnut. Local community organizations saved it. Now fully restored with innovative sky-​lit architecture, it’s a delightful place to hang out, read magazines, browse for books, etc.

Loved this place as a child. I used to hang out all the time in the Childrens’ section (which seemed much larger back then). Loved the collection of books and spent hours at the computer playing the «learning games»
Started visiting the rest of the library once I was in middle school/​high school. Very large, with marble columns, marble stairs, and shiny brass plated handrails. CD and DVD rentals were really popular.
The staff are all very nice and the only downside is that certain areas can use better lighting.

When they were repairing this, it was moved to a little black-​painted store across the street. Even today, it’s packed with kids and sometimes the homeless…
This is a beautiful building that has wonderful stone work and is a boon to the local non-​university people who want a free library just to check out and read from. We should really expand this for the sake of the community!

I want to love this branch of the library. I really do. It’s a 10 minute walk from home, it was recently renovated, and the inside of the building is gorgeous, with soaring barn ceilings and shiny, bright skylights.
Unfortunately, like every other branch library, it’s either full of (at any given time) high schoolers or homeless men, and it’s very, very noisy. Also, because it’s so small, the selection is small, so it’s not even really worth browsing.
Although I would love to be able to come in, sit down, and read in quiet like a library in an ideal world would allow you to, mostly I just request books from branches that are too far away to reach, and pick them up and leave. To be fair the staff are very good sports about my revolving book habit, so there’s that, at least.

Brand new, beautiful facility at the edge of Penn’s campus on the ever bustling 40^th and Walnut intersection. Unlike the central branch, as endearing as its dankness may be, this building suffers no shortage of natural light. The space open to the public is the entire second floor, which is basically one large room sectioned off by shelving and spotted with tables. As bright, colorful, and kid-​friendly as this branch is, I can only give it 3 stars b/​c there’s no quiet area. If the whole thing is one kid-​friendly room, where can I go to buckle down when it’s time to study or write? Nowhere, apparently. Uncool, library. I know you’re trying to keep up with the times, but you can’t be All fun & games.
Other fun tidbits: you can check out books yourself if you don’t have a nasty fine on your account. The east outer wall is a giant white screen for film projection when Penn or whoever feels like showing a film outside on the green.