Cleveland Heights – University Heights Public Library

Written as a medical student looking for a quiet place to study:
Easy to find location, building is gorgeous from the outside. I was there at opening time and hurried upstairs to the second floor to find the quiet study room. It was a bit smaller than expected, entirely glassed in. Very new, just as everything else. But There were only three full sized desks, the other are all small TV tray like things. The room definitely filled up over the course of the day. But it was silent! And there is a bathroom right next to it and the people in the study room have an unspoken agreement to watch each others stuff when you go to the bathroom. I felt very secure there.
The rest of the library seemed to fill up too despite having a good number of tables. sometimes I noticed people circling outside the room while they looked for a table in the main area. The main area when I stepped out there was also very quiet. I think it’s a perfectly suitable study volume even if you’re not in the silent room.
The second floor looked very updated and modern, it reminded me of the library at my undergraduate institution.
According to some people I spoke to, the librarians are pretty strict about noise (which I appreciate!) also, you are allowed to eat here. So it’s good if you are going to sit there all day, you won’t have to secretively eat in the bathroom.
The people who came here were a mix, but lots of young professionals, students from highschool up to grad schools it seemed. There were also older patrons studying for certifications or writing papers.
It’s a great library, my new favorite that I’ll be sure to come to next time I’m in town visiting family! Definitely recommend it!

This library is pretty cool, and in one of my favorite urban areas. I spent forever in the AV room. Initially, I was looking to check a few movies out. Then, my attention turned toward the audiobooks, some playaway audiobooks, which are devices you can check out containing a digital audiobook and controls to play it. One device contains one title. You just have to have your own headphones or earbuds. It was easy to browse the audiobooks, because popular titles were displayed horizontally. They even had staff picks, which seems a little weird to me. There are many self check-​out kiosks, so it’s easy to check-​out. Part of the CLEVNET system. Please check out other Unilocaler’s reviews of this library because they are better than mine.

I love it here! Never a long wait for computers– $ 2 worth of free printing per day for card holders, great movie selection, too. Staff is always super friendly and knowledgable.

I pretty much just use the meeting rooms here. You just call to schedule a 2 hour
time slot. This is very fair, and it keeps people from hogging the rooms.
The facilities are great, they have vending machines if you want snacks, and the
service is really good here. Nice folks.
If I’d change anything, it would be how parking is one way in each direction. I can
see why they did it that way, but not sure if they really needed to.

This is by far my favorite branch of the Cleveland Public Library system.
Pros:
— Open until 9pm on weekdays
— Many study rooms (reservable for up to two hours)
— Beautiful building
— Wonderful, safe location
— Right by many businesses on Lee road
— Self-​checkout
— Self-​service hold pickup (alphabetized bins)
— Free wifi
— Many employees around to help of needed
— Many other etc.
— Open on Sundays
Cons:
— Ummm
— Closes at 5 on Sat and Sun
— That’s about it.
I love coming here to study. There seems to be plenty of areas to sit down and study for hours on end. The reservable private study rooms are often available and perfect.
The book selection seems good, but I never just browse at a library. When I check out books it’s because I placed a hold online and then I go to the branch to pick it up. I usually know exactly what book I want so I just use the Clevnet app and place the hold.
I used to go to the Rice branch because it’s about 1 mile closer to my house. This location with all of its great features more than makes up for that difference.

It’s a nice library. It’s well laid out for browsing, and, being part a huge system, it’s easy to go online and reserve almost anything when I want something specific. There’s plenty of places to sit and read, and tons of public computers. The kid area is huge with books and toys for little ones, and their story times are nice too. In short: everything a local library should do, this one does.

What can you say about a library? It’s got the stuff I want, I like it.

As a librarian (of the non-​public-​variety), I am a huge library advocate, and I can say without hesitation that CH-​UH is the cream of the crop. The main library, which is the branch I frequent, is a major hub of activity for the neighborhood, boasting a large AV collection (let’s go down to the library and rent us up some movies), a teen room (soundproofed) and excellent collections of books. Yes, books! CH-​UH is part of the Clevnet consortium, too, so if they don’t have something you want on-​site, it’s pretty easy to get it from another library in the system, and fairly quickly to boot.
The library system recently started to lend Kindles and other eReaders, an innovative program I’m pretty curious about myself. I think there are also toy-​lending programs for kids and other special lending programs. Heights Libraries have really done a good job of changing with the times and adapting to the community’s needs.
There are two lots for the library: one behind the main library building on the east side of Lee and another behind the old Y annex (where Dobama theater is housed) on the west side. On any given weekend day the main lot is usually jam-​packed, which is a testament to how much Heights residents love their library.

I love this library and the entire CH-​UH Library system and I’m not the only on. On Sundays, folks are lined up waiting for the building to open at 1:00.
MATERIALS — if they don’t have what I want, chances are that the can get it for me through the CLEVNET system. Once the matierial arrives, I get an email letting me know to pick it up. I’m currently hooked on listening to books in the car and the library is feeding my habit — no need to buy a thing.
I like the new layout. Upstaris conversation nooks have been set up around the periodicals.
SPACE — The study rooms are often busy, but I can generally find a table and outlet to hook up my laptop.
In sum, this is one of the best uses of tax payer bucks that I can think of.

There’s much to like about this place. First of all, they have a great selection of books. They also have some XBOX 360 video games, but trying to find them is like trying to find a four leaf clover because they get checked out so quickly. Additionally, the self checkout machines are nice – some of the Cleveland Public Libraries don’t have them, and checking out can be a glacially slow endeavor. For a time, they had free wireless printing, which was really nice!
However, the last time I checked, a library was supposed to be a quiet place for reading and study, not a place at which kids run wild. Unfortunately, this is exactly what’s happening far too often at the library… there are unsupervised youth walking about, making noise, and disrupting all of the rest of us. I have complained about this on at least one occasion, and I know that other members of the community have done so as well. Still, nothing has happened. There are times when the noise in the library is so loud that it was incredibly distracting! Sure, there is a «Quiet Room», but it’s not always quiet either, and the seating is limited. This problem is a real buzzkill because other than being forced to deal this, I love going to Heights Library!

I really wanted to love it. I honestly did. But I was let down.
Let me preface by noting that I used to come here all the time before the remodel. It was when I was a young toaster and it was perfect with the right amount of: dark, comfortable, welcoming, and stocked with books.
Now it is bright, mall-​food-​court-​esque, and seems to be short on books.
First off the atmosphere is too much like a mall food court. It is bright, and while it has a nice ‘wide open space’ feeling to it, it doesnt have the comfortable feel of a place to curl up and read I look for in a library. All of there reading areas are just a clumping of chairs in corners lacking any character.
The childrens area where I used to take my little brother is now a computer/​video game area. This might get in some traffic, but it should still be a library. There used to be tons of little kids playing on the floor and watching the fish tank in the kids area, I dont see that now. There is a younger kids area, but it lacks the feeling of the old area.
And one last thing. The end cap pictures on the stacks need to be replaced. They look like horrible quality yearbook pictures blown up to 500% of the normal size. I expected more.
All in all, it is a nice library, just not what I want to see, but maybe I am getting old and grizzled.

Outstanding, well-​lit, and colorful library. Though the main areas are not the quietest, they have a «Quiet Room,» in which no talking is allowed. Most people respect this rule, and it is usually uncannily quiet. There is also a separate area of teens and another area for children.
The librarians (of which there are plenty) are very helpful. They are strategically positioned at computer stations throughout the library to help you if you are wandering around aimlessly.
The afterschool crowd can get pretty noisy (4 – 6 pm), so grab a study room (they have 4) or go to the Quiet Room if you have some serious work to do.
There AV collection is very diverse, and they have a tasteful selection of foreign DVDs (which I sample frequently). Also, you can usually pick up those hard to find classics here: M, Nosferatu, Glen or Glenda :)
The way the library is laid out, combined with the congeniality of the staff, make it a very welcoming environment.