Rochester Public Library – Lincoln Branch

Rochester is so lucky to have the Lincoln Branch Library. This branch has the potential to fade away and be neglected just because of its geographic qualities, but instead embraces them and serves its constituents better than many other libraries I’ve visited.
I’ll admit it, I was initially afraid to come here because of the street address. As a library lover and good citizen, I’m ashamed of that. Every library needs love, no matter the location. I recently had the opportunity to attend an event held at the library by the Young Urban Preservationists, and I not only had an amazing time at the event itself, but got to poke around in the library and see a neighborhood that needs a little extra TLC.
Lincoln, the result of mergers and consolidation in the 1990s, is an excellent example of a library that really meets the needs of patrons. This branch serves the largest Spanish-​speaking population, and has a large collection of Spanish language materials for circulation. I was also impressed by the equal number of flyers in English and Spanish in the front vestibule. Understanding patron needs is a huge part of successful libraries. Lincoln does an amazing job with limited resources, like all city libraries do. The bilingual materials and tailored books take the branch above and beyond other branches. As a bonus, many of the staff members are bilingual too.
I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the toy library housed here at Lincoln. I could go on and on about how amazing the toy library is, but I’ll restrain myself and encourage you all to see it for yourselves. Housing the toy library at Lincoln is so smart because odds are, the kids that go to Lincoln regularly probably don’t have access to a ton of toys at home. I hate saying that, but the toy library makes up for it. Toys are divided by types of play: educational, infant/​toddler, sensory, games, creative, pretend. Toys circulate for three weeks, just like books, and the three week period is enough time to replicate the time it usually takes for a kid to discover a new toy, play it out, and move on. The entire room is interactive, so you can start playing before you even take anything home.
Like with all city branches, Lincoln does have the same issues with a lack of physical space, lack of hours, but does have a decent amount of parking. If the library were open more often, I suspect it would be packed to the gills every day, much like it was that afternoon I visited. Again, it’s no fault of the library, just that city libraries need to be open more often on a whole.
I’m so happy I finally had a chance to visit the Lincoln branch, especially for a program. This is a library that loves the community and wants to serve everyone as best they can, like any good library should. Let’s all make a point to stop by and give this library the love it deserves.

This branch provides excellent services to the local community with really fun programming for kids and teens, a toy library (seriously, there is a huge warehouse of toys you can loan from here), and your average collection of DVDs, books, guides, etc. The staff are all really friendly and most of them are bi-​lingual in Spanish since this is the branch with the most Spanish-​speaking patrons. They offer a lot of programs in Spanish which is a huge asset to the community. There is plenty of parking in the lot out front or across the street, so there is no need to worry about street parking in this area. If you have kids and are sick of constantly buying new toys, it’s worth checking out the toy library and rotate new toys without having to always buy new ones.