Santa Fe Public Library

I use the library mainly for the computers and for inter-​library loan requests. The inter-​library loan desk staff are very helpful. The situation with the computers is not such a positive experience. Unlike the other city libraries, that allow patrons 2 hours on the computer/​day, the downtown library limits people to 1 hour at a time. There are a lot of homeless people who use the computers mainly for entertainment, to watch videos on youtube, and this makes it difficult for others to get access to the computers. Not infrequently, there are emotional outbursts and altercations arising from the homeless contingent, sometimes directed at the staff. Security staff appears to be fairly passive. It’s not a comfortable atmosphere. And unlike the other libraries, downtown has been closed on Sundays as of a couple of years ago.

I went to get my library card and was out with my new card in less than 5 minutes. Great service so far.

I love my local library and I am so glad that I can reserve items online — it’s a life saver!

Our family uses this library primarily as an additional resource beyond our Amazon and Kindle order accounts brimming with reading material. We are voracious readers, the most prolific of whom is our adolescent daughter who reads two to three books a week. The main library downstairs has a modest collection of fiction (with many glaring omissions of popular works) and an ample periodical section.
The children’s library, where we spend the bulk of our time, is much more pleasant. It is located off a hallway which frequently houses art collections ranging from the whimsical to the profound to the incredibly innovative. These small display exhibits of local artists are worthy of higher echelon art galleries of Santa Fe. The small room which houses the children’s library feels much larger than it is.
Everything in this section feels appropriately child-​centered, especially the children’s reading «nook» adorned with stuffed animals, old-​fashioned toys, board games, and a pint-​sized wooden rocking chair. There is also a rocking love-​seat in which I read to my younger daughter from the library’s significant collection of Dora the Explorer books and other primary grade hardcover readers. The children’s librarian has always been helpful and knowledgeable when we have required her assistance, and the room is quiet and very comfortable in general.
Unfortunately, the main circulation desk staff is not as proficient, nor is the administration. Twice in recent months, we have received repeated automated telephone calls notifying us that we have an overdue library book, the continued absence of which would result in suspended borrowing privileges.
In the first instance, we appealed to a circulation desk person, explaining that we had no overdue books. They poked at their keyboards, glanced at their screen, and officiously proclaimed that we were clearly mistaken, at which time we marched up the stairs to the children’s library and easily located the book in question on the shelf. Although this cleared up the matter instantly, there was no acknowledgement on the staff’s part of their mistake, nor any apology for our inconvenience.
In the second instance, once again we began to receive the phone calls. Thinking that our previous solution was in order again, we searched in vain for the book in question before even speaking to a circulation desk person. When our search proved futile, we spoke to a woman in her forties to early fifties with short brown hair (at circulation), who told me — without bothering to look up the book in question — that «it is probably under your car seat». Doesn’t it just make your day when people blatantly assign random behaviors to you without knowing the first thing about you? Where do these people get off making assumptions and judging?
I requested that she check my account. She poked at her keyboard and then curtly informed us that the book we had spent an hour looking for wasn’t «overdue» at all, but had been mistakenly entered as such and then switched to «damaged». Again, without so much as an apology for our inconvenience, she simply said that it was «an unfortunate error» on our part, and that our children would not be able to borrow any more books until we replaced the damaged book. «How is it damaged?» I inquired. «We always take good care of our books, whether library or owned.» She would not show us the book or respond, again repeating that it was our «fault». I mentioned to her that the book’s pages were wavy when we checked it out, indicating water damage. She insisted that «we would never release a book into circulation that had any such damage». This is surprising, considering that I have had to tape ripped pages in their children’s books, and we routinely find others with food stains, water spots, and various other marks. Despite having already made previous mistakes regarding our account, she refused to believe that we did not damage the book, effectively accusing us without proof.
I called the administration office and spoke to a woman her assistant referred to as «Vey». After a heated argument in which this woman repeatedly told me, «I am not in the market of arguing with you,» and «we hear your story all the time from everyone». I had to stand my ground and refuse blame for something our family did not do, nor would we ever. Finally, she snapped at me, «Fine! I’ll remove it from your account!!» When I checked the next day, the «Damaged» note in our family’s account had NOT been removed.
Our family’s experience of this library has been blackened.

The Santa Fe Public Library has a great location if one lives downtown. It can be a short walk. It’s a pleasant, often busy place. I’d often go there as a getaway, to find a nook among the books. However, there’s a better selection of books (if you’re into philosophy, want an entire translation of the Talmud, the whole Summa Theologiae) up at
At the Public Library, one has the limit of 3 books from each section. Because the selection is limited.
It’s a quiet place downtown.

I really wanted to see the library, and I was disappointed that it would be closed. But at least I could take a look. I love visiting the local public library when I visit somewhere. I was walking around Santa Fe one evening on a business trip, and even though it was starting to get dark, I started walking quickly to the library, to get a quick look before it was late enough that I should hurry back to my hotel.
Imagine my surprise and delight when the library was still open! As I walked toward it, I saw people inside and started to get excited. But I cautioned myself that they could be staff. But no, it’s open! That’s the first great thing about this public library — open til 9pm during the week! I sure wish my local library was open then. It is also open til 6pm on Fri and Sat, and open Sundays from 1 to 5pm. Hurray!
So I went inside and liked that too. Lots of nooks and crannies for reading. There’s one reading area in the non-​fiction section, which is very nice. Most wonderful was the Southwest Reading Room, which is a whole room just for reading and has the feel of an old college library, with dark wood tables with lamps on them. There are some special collection books housed along the edges of the room in glass-​door wooden book cases. Very grand. Upstairs there was an art gallery and a conference room that was open and looks out onto the street, which is less than a block from the Plaza and has many passersby. The children’s section is also upstairs, but it closes at 8, so I couldn’t look.
The bathroom is quite clean and has foamy soap.
This library seems to have a lot of travel books on lots of different places.