Steinway Branch Queens Library

I go to this library mainly to use the computers + 20 free prints a day. All the staff members have been helpful and patient in my experience.
You get one hour of computer time (in 30 minute intervals), and may continue if no one else is waiting. There are only 6 computers so I would not rely on these computers in an emergency because they do tend to fill up.
Tip: pay attention to the opening and closing times! Every day is different.

Free composting outside the library, every Monday 8−10am! The nice compost collectors have info about what can be composted, and all compost goes to public trees & parks.

Working with children finds me in the library quite often. The librarians on the children’s floor are completely rude most of the time. When children ask for help, they kind of just brush them off or give off a miserable attitude. It honesty disappoints me to see such work ethics from people that children rely on to learn, are supposed to be inspired to read by and etc. I hope that management gets a hold of this and makes changes towards the future.
However, there is a good selection of books and it is always clean !

For irony and cleverness, check out the work of professional writers available at this library. Socialist architecture, government workers etc., derelict or senile patrons are all funny in a way and true in a way, but it all misses the point. Free access to a wealth of literature, music and movies. I am so glad this is here around the corner from me. Rock on and always be here!

I agree with the previous comments about how rude and inattentive the staff is. I recently went to this branch to print something very quickly. the printers were down so I asked the librarian/​tech person (short black man) if he could print out the document using the flash drive I gave him. He looked annoyed that I asked, because I took him away from his comic book reading…
So he tried opening it once– it didn’t open. So I recommended he use another program to open the document– it’s quite simply– any one who is the least bit computer savvy could do it. He said he already tried (once) and couldn’t open. He didn’t try to help — he didn’t try to open it using another program. He just looks miserable and doesn’t want to be there– so obviously he doesn’t care about doing he’s job. The other interactions I experienced with the actual librarians have been much better. so if you need help avoid the tech person behind the computer desk– he’s rude and will not help you at all.

When it comes to the library’s selection, it’s great. Plenty of good books and a ton of DVD’s. But when it comes to the library’s staff, forget it. Rude, unhelpful, snippy, completely unknowledgeable about their own place of business — need I go on? It’s like a constant raincloud hangs over the head of everyone who works there. So if you just want to stop by and grab a book/​movie and get out, you’ll be totally satisfied. Just avoid speaking to anyone at all costs. Seriously.

yeah it’s a fine spot. more than fine variety of movies from which to choose. i am obsessed, though, by the characters in this place. the intense energy of the woman in charge is pure sitcom when matched by the spastic charm of the angry desk gentleman. i wish it did not smell of urine. amazing movie selection, did i say that?

In my opinion rating a library is difficult because everyone has different expectations. For me I just expect a clean environment with an ok book selection with the oppurtunity to request materials from other branches. If that is what you are looking for you will not be disappointed.

Guys, the problem (s) with this place isn’t the library management’s fault. The fact that every mentally unstable elderly woman, every vaguely homeless vagrant, and every deaf, Greek, widowed grandfather in Astoria congregates at this library is not the fault of those who run the library. The bottom line is it’s a free, public space.
This place understandably becomes a warzone: Grandpa Socrates hogs the last 3 days of New York Times newspapers and doesn’t get the leather chair he likes sitting in, so now Grandpa Socrates is angry. So when the unstable crazy woman, wearing a pink $ 2 scarf and a Key Food bag on her head, answers her cell phone, he takes her noise personally (even though he can’t hear it too well because of his hearing impairment). But because of his hearing impairment, he rebukes the crazy woman in what he thinks is a moderate volume, but is actually a full-​throated scream that turns all the acne-​scarred, unkempt, and abandoned faces in his direction.
I like the people who run this place. There are at least two 30something women who you can imagine at a café or a book reading in Brooklyn — the horn rimmed glasses, the political correctness, that ambivalent femininity. The other people who work there are government employees as you’d expect them. The other people who work there are an extension of the bland, 1970s-​Socialist cement architecture of the place.
Good selection of books — not great. Photocopy machine doesn’t work. Computer usage is a prickly affair, so don’t go into using their 30-​minute/​20-​page limit computers with a grouchy frame of mind. You’ll get grouchier.

Close by and has good hours. It’s easy to pick up books you got sent here online but there actual selection in the library is not that great. I am glad they have self check out bec I like to avoid the very nasty librarian that works behind the checkout desk (Overweight black lady) She was mentioned in another post and is always in a bad mood with customers (I have seen her smile only when flirting).
Overall the library can’t be beat for free books but a better selection is nice since it takes a while for books on hold to get there.

I was super excited to check out this little branch of the Queens Library! I thought it’d be a great hub to request materials to and a snug little spot to hang out with a book.
However, I just spent 5 minutes in there and will not return. I witnessed one of the rudest, most condescending women, a manager of some sort, make a parental judgment on a polite Hispanic man. The elderly clerk behind the counter tried to awkwardly laugh away her out-​of-​bounds comment on the man’s parenting but it was too late. The man was asking a question and needed assistance but this woman pinned him as some neglectful father (while in fact his wife was with their son). Ironically, the manager’s own child appeared moments later, strapped to a children’s leash… Regardless of this funny hypocrisy, the judgement and rudeness displayed by the woman in charge put me off the place.

Oof, this place is tiny and looks ancient, not in a quaint, cute way. At first there didn’t seem to be enough seating, but it was alright because there weren’t too many people, even on a Saturday. The chairs weren’t all that comfortable, and I wish they had more cubicles. Also, the hours are not conducive to people with full-​time jobs.
I feel bad that I’m rambling on about only bad things about this library, so let’s see… the lighting is really bright! And they have a/​c! And the staff is pretty friendly.

This is a pretty good branch of the queens library. They don’t have a wide variety of stock, so I find myself mostly reserving from other branches and using this convenient location as a pick-​up spot. Everything is set up in a manner that is easy to navigate and quickly locate what you’re looking for. I’ve never needed help from a librarian as a result, so I can’t really comment on whether or not they are helpful. They always seem happy to be there though. Good place for students to study.

As far as libraries go, I’m not very picky. All I ask for is that the have the following:
Books to browse and read
Bright lights so it’s easy to read, my dear
Seats! Because I’m not going to stand and read
I think the Steinway library has all three. I’m good to go.

Good local branch. Apathetic staff at the check-​out desk. Harry and main librarians are much more helpful. Reserve books in advance as there are the best-​sellers available immediately but not much space for some not-​so recent titles. Good DVD selections.

Growing up in Queens, I have been to many branches of the Queens Public Library. The Steinway branch is by far the most helpful. I have lived in this neighborhood specifically for over a decade, and throughout, the librarians at this branch have gone above and beyond in assisting so far as I have seen and experienced. Even as far as asking my opinion on what sort of books people may like to read given the genera that I had a tendency to borrow. During construction when the main bld was closed, the people working in the remote trailer did as much as humanly possible to help the customers, illustrating the best aspect; the staff actually cares about the patrons, particularly the manager. (try going there around when school lets out and see how she handles some of the crazier kids… on second thought, maybe don’t go when school lets out)
I have been to other libraries in the area (Astoria, Broadway, etc) but will always think of this as «my branch» given the sense of community fostered there, and that is what a library should be.

Pros:
–Bathroom downstairs is private and key-​reliant
–Good selection of DVDs and magazines for such a small library.
–Some friendly help
–not too loud
Cons:
–Mostly incompetent help that makes you want to strangle a librarian.
–Stupid name, it’s nowhere near Steinway, and the branch on the corner of Steinway is named Broadway… cuz it’s ON Broadway.
–The internet stations are almost constantly manned, and the printer goes down often.