Chicago Public Library

This place is close to my heart. I have seen and visited many Libraries across the nation it seems no branch can top this little Gem of Chicago.
Bezazian Branch is great for a lot of reasons. I guess one of the big reasons is having a great Branch Manger taking care of the place.
Mark I believe is his name. He is always very helpful to Patrons who come in and runs the place like as if he was Superman.
I think the Flash would be more like it.
On a nice day you can see him sitting in front of the Branch reading a newspaper during his break, signifying a safe and family friendly branch to enter.
It’s a small branch but operates like it’s a big one in the heart of Uptown Chicago.
I can’t say much about the Children’s area because when I came in with my Children I found out the old Children’s Librarian retired :(
I believe parents help one another out to do Story Time now.
Regardless of that… Great selection of Children’s Books and fun Children’s area, My little ones had a blast. GIANT LEGOS!!!
The Head Clerk is a fun gentleman and awesome to talk to. To be honest the whole Clerical staff is great in this branch, always have been. It’s amazing what they do and I notice even during stressful situations they keep a smile on their face.
Bezazian takes pride in what they do, They take care of the neighborhood well. Without them it would be felt.
It can be a real treat to be recognized when entering, having your books ready for you before you even enter the place, there is no feeling like it. You just need to be a regular, and that’s not hard at all. Just get a Library Card and prepare to have an experience…
THE BEZAZIAN EXPERIENCE.
Woo!

I have been coming to this branch during mid-​day for the last 6 weeks or so to study for the GRE. (It’s not far from my kids’ school). I think I need to switch. I have to wear headphones because often it is not quiet. And while I am supportive of libraries being a public resource for all, this branch seems to provide haven to a large homeless population. I had to draw the security guard’s attention to someone mastrubating at a table, had a guy sleeping at a computer terminal next to me, and some individuals with very poor hygiene sitting in too close proximity for me to concentrate over the smell. Honestly, the staff seem very nice and the facility is well-​organized. I just don’t feel totally safe and many individuals are not respectful of personal space (I had an older man come on to me & I had to point out that I was at the library to study… geesh!)

I have been going there for years and the staff has always been top-​notch. Head librarian, Mark Kaplan, is terrific and seems to be always looking for ways to improve the library to benefit the community.

The staff seems very friendly and helpful here, they seemed like the only bright spot on our study date.
At first it seemed strange that the crowds of people on a Saturday afternoon were off to the left side of the library, with seemingly no one to the right side of the building. All the plugs and the public-​use computers are over there, so that seems like it’s just where everyone ended up.
I’m not sure if it’s really appropriate to review based on the clientele, but… it was not easy to study in earnest there. It’s not quiet. People are shifting about everywhere, sometimes picking up cell phone calls. Close to when the library was closing, some more people came in and sat down at our table to charge their cellphones and kept up with their conversation at normal volume. There are no cubicles, and there are no areas designated for quiet since the library is pretty small. Kids playing off on the right side of the building make as much noise as they want in the play area, which is fine, but the sound carries.
For serious studying, I’d recommend somewhere else — a public library up by Thorndale/​Broadway might be our next study stop in the future.

The staff is really helpful and super friendly. Really love them. I go there regularly. Service is fast. However I do wish this library was large and had quite study rooms. SO glad this is near to my HOME: D

I do have to say in the time it’s been since the Edgewater branch closed for construction of a newer building (never mind the new building is very close to opening), this library has grown on me some. I do have odd luck every so often finding harder to find CPL system items (though *cough* there really should be more than one Escape From New York copy in the whole CPL system), the staff is nice here, and at least often you can find at least a few seats somewhere. I know there are limitations that aren’t this library’s fault (i.e. the fact that it’s a typical 1950/​60s branch that isn’t big, like the newer branches. though at the same time not as small as the former West Addison branch, or the former Galewood-​Mont Clare one), primarily its small size. And for whatever reason, the bathroom is not as bad at this branch, unlike some of the other Chicago library branches I’ve visited.
I do too often run into the prob of being limited to just the 15 minute computers for going online, but I’ll overlook that since I’ve started to appreciate this branch more in the meantime. They even have a small parking lot just to the north for patrons, as well.

This branch has a lot of upsides, and it also has a handful of downsides. Depending on what you are looking for, it could either be perfect or disappointing.
This branch is relatively small but conveniently located off of Broadway. It has a huge children’s section as well as a nice little young adult corner. This branch also caters to the diverse local population, offering a pretty good variety of Vietnamese, Chinese, and Spanish language literature. If you’re looking for any of these services from a library, this branch will suit your needs beautifully.
However, the adult fiction and non fiction sections I find incredibly frustrating. Books are organized not by the Dewey Decimal System, but alphabetically by author. This makes it difficult to browse, so you really need to know what you want coming in. For my purposes (research, browsing drama, etc.), the organization system makes this library useless to me.
In the end, it is a question of knowing what you want. If you need a library to take your kids to, look no further. If you don’t know what you want when you walk through the doors, you might as well walk right back out.

This has been my regular library for nearly two years and, every time I go, the staff gets more friendly — they probably know by now that I won’t bother them lol.
Overall, they need a bigger library. More space for books, for computers, for a line to form, and more distance from the children’s section. Things can get rather cramped and noisy. The small and regular staff do the best they can with what they have.

I’m on a quest to visit every branch of the Chicago Public Library system.
I want to give this library five stars SO BAD. This library mirrors the Albany Park branch in the way it is set up: children’s section on the right and adult section on the left. There are plenty of tables for both children and adults to sit down and read. For a library this size, Bezazian has a LARGE book selection. However, a lot of the reading materials look a bit dated. The shelves are pretty much full, but we need some newer titles, CPL! They have a nice Spanish language section here. They also have a nice DVD/​CD selection; I was honestly impressed. What this branch lacks in newer BOOK titles it makes up for with newer video and music.
The staff here was ultra friendly, and it seemed pretty quiet. There was just a bit of chatter from the children’s area, but nothing too bad.
It’s not important, but the green CPL sign hanging on this branch is really cute.

i MEAN its an average place to go. Its a good library An ok. Not the best Quality but An OK.

I live two blocks from the Edgewater library on Elmdale but truck to Bezazian instead because it is light years better.
Shelves are well organized, restocking seems efficient. Lines are never too long at the check out counter. Even during after school hours, it still seems quiet and library like rather than like a high school or pre-​school playground as other libraries do.
Best of all is the male reference librarian — I think his name is Mark. He goes out of his way to help me find and reserve books, hunting them down at other branches, overriding the system to put holds on them for me. He is truly passionate about his job and it shows. So many other reference librarians just act as though serving you is a bother. Not so here.
It is a given that the Chicago Public Library system is underfunded and understaffed. But this branch seems to make it feel like everything is still working well.

Finally, after living in the city for over 4 years I got my Library Card! This library is the closest to where I live so this is the place I got my card.
It’s pretty small and as I was looking at the shelves I noticed the shelves are a little bare, but the staff here is wonderful. I think his name was Andrew, but he was very excited that I was getting my first library card and was happy to show me all the benefits of having one. INCLUDING getting up to 4 free passes into Chicago Museums! I had no idea and this comes at a very good time b/​c me and the boyfriend were going to plan a trip to the Shedd Aquarium in the next month! And it wasn’t just me he was friendly too, every person who walked up to the counter he ended up talking to them about their books. You don’t find that anywhere… a nice welcome change!
I look forward to discovering the library more when I have a bit more time. But from what I can tell, they have many computers and the library seems to be divided… one side adult the other side children’s. They also have books on CD and DVD’s to rent out. I was there around 6:30 and it was pretty packed with lots of kids. So maybe not the place to get some quiet reading done!

Count that as 3−½ stars. I like Bezazian because the staff is always friendly, and of course, it is so close to home. It is a small branch, and they don’t really have a mind-​boggling array of books. But what they have, they maintain well. Of course, CPL awesomely sends over the books you want to whichever branch you want.
One thing though, the kids’ section of the library is mostly noisy. So if you’re one of those ‘libraries must observe pin-​drop silence’ people, don’t land up here only to start complaining :)

Maybe I hit this library on an off day?
This is the closest library to me but for some reason, I’ve always avoided it. My mother grew up around the corner from it and always reminisces about days spent there when she was a kid.
I finally went in the other day on my way home from work to pick up some Orlando travel guides because my dude and I were taking a last minute vacation.
Wow… I don’t think anything has changed since my mother was a little girl. It’s kinda… funky.
But a library is a library and I don’t really care. So I had the call number for the books I had already looked up ahead of time. I walked to where they should be…
… nothing.
Then I realize that they are probably in a special «travel» section of the library but as I’m walking around, I don’t see one. So I go up to the desk and ask the checkout woman (a middle aged Asian woman) where the travel section is.
She doesn’t speak English. Well, at least she pretends not to. She appears frazzled. I show her the call number and say slowly «travel book section?» (my mother’s side of the family are all Chinese and some speak minimal English so I am pretty patient with these kind of things). She shakes her head that she doesn’t understand me and sends me to what appears to be the reference desk/Children’s Library attendant/​receptionist who is on the phone with someone asking a question about a book.
The woman there makes no sign that she sees me standing there… not a smile and a «one minute» finger raise. Nothing. She gets off the phone and walks away from the desk and I am left standing there for a minute. Then two. Then three. Then four.
My patience running thin, I finally decide that it is NOT a big library and if I use just a small amount of patience, I’ll find the travel section.
Duh. Dummy. it’s right there under the globe.
I think this library is great if you know what you’re there looking for but the workers there are not helpful and they are clearly understaffed.

Heavy library user here. I visit generally close to once a week or more. Upon moving to Chicago, I found this to be the closest branch to me and promptly headed out to get my new card and get acquainted with the place.
Now about three weeks into being a proud CPL card holder, and fourish visits into my experience with the Bezazian branch, I think I can say I like this place. It’s not amazing, it is rather small, but the music collection is quite diverse and interesting. It seems to rotate quickly too, so there’s always something there that I haven’t seen before.
The staff have always been friendly toward me, warm almost. The guy who signed me up for the card seemed very happy to be doing so. He accepted a Netflix envelope as proof of residency, which led to a discussion of all things Netflix amongst him, me and a security guard (or maybe just another patron who happens to work in security somewhere else, I’m not sure). The location is convenient as well, close to both the Argyle and Lawrence Red Line stops. Some of the more vibrant Uptown nightlife and the Argyle area eateries are in the near vicinity as well.
All in all, I’m pretty satisfied with my experience so far. I’ll be back, regularly.

Would it kill the staff to acknowledge patrons with some basic politeness? Or is it mandatory for staff to shove the book back at the patron without a word or eye contact, even when the patron clearly says «thank you»? It wasn’t even in the least bit busy. Seems to me that in these days of drastic civic budget cuts, the CPL might want to think about holding their staff accountable to some minimal standards of customer service, before the whole public library system becomes even more expendable in the taxpayer’s mind than it, sadly, already is.

The children’s librarians at this library are very helpful. I work at a local after school program and they were very patient with me as I learned about their programs and procedures. They are very accessible and run solid programs for kids.
They also regularly have random Criterion Collection DVDs that are always fun to watch.

I hate to update so soon after my initial review, but I have to bump this place a star for the staff. I stopped by yesterday to check out a book that, according to the CPL website, was on the shelves. I couldn’t find it where it was supposed to be, and I couldn’t find it on the surrounding shelves, and I couldn’t find it in the «New Nonfiction» area. So I asked the guy at the desk if it was truly in, or if it had been checked out between the time I saw it online and got to the library, or if it could have been checked in but not shelved yet. Stop me if this gets too complex.
Since I am a complete geek, I had the title and the call number with me. The guy checked the computer and saw that it was supposedly in house. So he had another clerk look for it on the shelves. She, of course, couldn’t find it, since I am enough of a geek to have checked the places it should have been. He asked if I wanted them to order it, but since I had seen it online at the Uptown branch (geek) and since I knew I would be passing the Uptown branch on the way to Unilocal Office Hours, I said sure. So he called Uptown and ended up on hold — their staff not being as kickass as this staff — and while he was waiting on hold (a long frickin time, Uptown!) the other clerk showed up with the book. Even though I was prepared to get it from another source, she had kept searching for it, and eventually found where it had been mis-​shelved.
At no time did these people have to go out of their way for me. Once I said I would pick up the book at another library, the desk clerk could have just said «okay,» as I imagine most people would. And there was no reason for the other clerk to keep looking for the book, except perhaps her own curiosity. Everything else I wrote about this branch still holds, but the staff is terrific. Kudos!

Again, great staff, and good selections in a number of other languages. Also, one of the best ones to hear some crazy rants. There have been so many, but some highlights include one praising Michael Jackson, one about how white people like Black people (by a woman who was quite self-​consciously crazy), and another about the threat of the communists.

The first time I visited this branch of the CPL, I felt like it was a little rough around the edges. I guess I still feel this way, but now that I’m expecting it, I don’t notice it as much.
The building is divided into halves, one for kids & one for adults. Each half has a set of computers. There is also a security guard that sits where the children’s area begins.
They don’t always have what I’m looking for, but they are happy to order it from another branch for you. The staff here is great. Very friendly & helpful!
Parking can be tight. They have spots for about four cars, if people don’t park like jerks, but otherwise, you’re on your own. Thankfully though, this library is a 5 minute walk NW of the Red line Lawrence stop.