Bartlett Public Library District

I’ve noticed that if you’re not white, they will not treat you with their best. I’m saying this as I’ve had many occasions where they’ve ignored me when I asked them to help me look for a book. Sometimes, they would help the person next to me first. (and yes, they were white). Recently, they’ve accused us of damaging their books. If it was the first time, I wouldn’t have thought much about it but it’s the second time that they’ve called us regarding a damage. I’ve called them multiple times to verify that the damage occurred under my care. Turns out that the damaged occurred in the return box outside. But after listening to my defense, they act as if they didn’t hear anything at all and tell me that I will be getting charged. Other libraries I’ve been too have been much friendlier and do not discriminate against other races. Maybe I just have bad luck with the people working there but my experience all in all have been horrible.

I’ve happily used this library over the years when visiting relatives close by! On my last trip to visit them I discovered that the library has a stand full of books at the Bartlett Metra station for people to read while on the train and return when done. What a wonderful idea!

I attend the story time here with my 1 year old daughter 3 times a week. The instructor Ms. Phyllis, is awesome. I don’t even live in Bartlett but she is the reason we attend their story time. They have a lovely children’s area to play upstairs and a wide variety of programs that can appeal to all ages. I love that it is also side by side with the pool and the park district.

The Bartlett Public Library is a nice library. Put it this way, I don’t even live in Bartlett and it’s still my library of choice. Why? Because they have a lot of programs. They have story time for kids, and they even have storytime once a month on weekends for working parents. They have a nice upstairs area, and yes they are not as big as Naperville maybe, but it’s still pretty nice.
They have pretty good parking since they are near the Community center as well as the water park. The only complaint is the location and the way the road is set up. It can be annoying when it’s busy to get in and out. But that’s not really their fault.
They will take some pictures and videos of the programs and if you ask they will even provide you a copy if your kid happens to be in one. That’s a nice bonus.

The Bartlett Public Library has a decent amount of parking for the number of patrons that are there at any given time. It is actually within walking distance of my house, although like a good suburbanite, I have driven there as well. The building is clean and modern inside. I think it has been remodeled in the past couple of years. The bathroom looks like it missed the update though.
Being an «old» guy, I am still a little overwhelmed by the multimedia choices that modern libraries offer. They have many video DVDs, audio books and music on CD, and video games for PS3, Xbox, and Wii. They also have a significant number of internet connected computers. But I am most interested in the the good old-​fashioned books.
Unfortunately, the Bartlett library suffers from its size. It is not like there are not more books than I could read in a lifetime, but it just seems that every time I am looking for anything in particular, they don’t have it. I only found about 10 Issac Asimov books on the shelf… and only 2 Jules Verne! (Am I showing my age again?) Science Fiction is not a strong point at the BPL.
Don’t get me wrong though, I always find something to read. I like to wander the non-​fiction section and just grab titles that catch my eye. I will then sit down and enjoy myself for a couple of hours as I learn about a new subject. I do sometimes get novels, but that requires more of a time commitment that I am not often willing to make. I do wish the seating choices were more comfortable. I usually end up in a standard hard wooden chair at a table.
There are several terminals around the library that you can use to search the catalog (remember card catalogs?). You can even access the catalog online from home before you get to the library. I believe you can renew your checked out items a couple of times from home as well.
Overall, I am glad to have a nice library conveniently located by my house. Maybe if I spent more time using the facility I would better appreciate what it has to offer. I will definitely be back and I would recommend that everyone go to the library instead of buying books that you read once and then put on a shelf to collect dust.