Cleveland Public Library – Carnegie West

This branch has recently come under new management. There is a new head librarian and a new security company and they have done a lot. It is almost completely unrecognizable from what it was just a year ago. If you live in Ohio City, you know all about the reputation that the park has. Please don’t let that reputation tarnish your impression of the library, which is only situated in the park, but not affiliated with it. A lot of work has been done to make the library more welcoming and less scary to the average person.
Once inside, you will find beautiful architecture, many friendly faces, and a great selection. Staff is friendly and will go above and beyond to help you. The Cleveland Public Library is one of the best systems in the country and you’re missing out on a lot if you aren’t willing to give this place another chance.

I grew up in this library, it was my secular church. the Librarians knew and still know my name. Unfortunately, things have changed, the staff is still great but the patrons have gotten worse. I am used to the homeless so I’ve adapted but I am severely agitated by the classless and uncouth people (and their children) who frequent what I consider a second home. My heart hurts writing this but something needs to be done. It is supposed to be the «People’s University» but so few come there to learn anymore. Still, my love for books was nurtured with an intense fervor here…

Maybe I’m just an old fogey, but back when I was young, libraries were places of silence and tranquility. It was possible to go and study in near silence and have a nice respite from the din of daily life
Unfortunately, the times are changing with libraries – even many university libraries are somewhat noisy. This place is a price example of that.
I came here to study Corporations, which is one of the most complex courses I’ve ever taken in law school. Big mistake. This place was so noisy that I could not find a single seat that was quiet – and I didn’t even go when school was out! It’s bad when the patrons talk, but when the librarians are talking loudly too… c’mon! Worst of all, most of the chairs weren’t comfy, padded chairs. If I’m going to have to fight to maintain concentration, I at least like to do it in a nice chair.
The computer folks were especially noisy; whatever they were looking at much have been very interesting, because they neglected to notice that their speakers were on and everyone in the library could hear the Windows sounds.
They do have a decent selection of Spanish materials, so kudos for that.

With my intense love for Cleveland Public LIbrary’s main branch, this particular one just breaks my heart. You’d expect a smaller selection, but the disappointment goes way beyond that.
This branch is the closet one to where I live in Ohio City. It’s convenient for a quick pick up or return, especially since I’m just a short walk away. For anything other than that, I make the trip downtown.
First of all, if you drive over here parking can be a nightmare. There are three extremely popular Cleveland restaurants right there, so as you can imagine, the street parking is rather limited. And that’s all there is.
OK, OK – I can handle the parking situation. I’m not too lazy to walk, especially since I’m close.
What I cannot handle are the creepsters who always seem to be hanging around the outside. Really? Is the local library branch the best place for trouble-​makers to hang out? It’s not much better inside either. I have not gone to this location once without some guy saying something inappropriate to me, or being whistled at like a piece of meat. Actually, I came here for a reason and it wasn’t to get picked up by scary looking dudes. Thanks, but no thanks. I now refuse to go to this library alone.
The Cleveland Library is a great place to rent a movie for free without worrying about Redbox, but I wouldn’t go to this branch. It’s usually over taken by 25 unattended, loud children who’s mothers are too busy trolling the interwebs to mind. As much as I love children, I like I’ll pass.
If you don’t mind walking through a group of men staring at you or wrestling though groups of children to rent a movie, then it’s not a bad place. At least the librarians are super nice. Bless their hearts. I’m sure they put up with a ton of crap daily with that crowd.

So when I lived in Cleveland, this was the library branch closest to our house. It’s a neighborhood branch, so you’ve go to expect a limited selection. I’m fine with that. But what made coming here almost unbearable was the librarians’ fascist upholding of the computer-​use rules and the surly regular computer users.
So there used to be probably four computers the public could use here. You had to sign up for twenty-​minute time slots. This was fine, except that the librarians would constantly remind you during your twenty minutes that you had so much time left, and there were about three regulars who would pester you while you were using the computer. The worst was this one girl/​woman of indeterminate age with crazy hair. She would just hound you or try to make conversation with you until you wanted to leave.
All in all, I would give this branch two stars, but it gets a bonus star because it smells like a library should. Although a lot of homeless people hang out in here, the wood smell from the shelves and floors somehow overpowers the homeless-​person smell.
So come for the wood smell, but go to the main library downtown to actually use the library.