Boone County Public Library --Florence Branch

Wonderful libraries, programs for kids and teens, and the best staff in the tri-​state. We love our Boone County libraries!!!

It’s a library. It has books you can borrow. It needs an update, but unlike some libraries I’ve been to recently, this one doesn’t seem to suffer from an obvious lack of funding. I’ve been to better libraries, I’ve been to worse libraries. The inter-​library agreements the Boone County library system has makes this on par with the much better libraries (although you may need to wait a few days to get the book you want from another branch).

Ehh, it’s just ok. Nothing great about it but not anything really bad, either. It’s not as big, inviting, or bright as the branches in Union and Burlington. But it’s still a decent library with helpful staff. I usually check out items at the other branches and return them at the Florence dropbox, since the branch is conveniently located on US-​42 by the freeway exit. Also, I can pick up a copy of Metromix here, which the other branches never have.

I was a little disappointed in this library. With some of the newer libraries in the area (like Newport and Independence), I guess I’m a little jaded.
It was plenty busy when I was there on an afternoon between 4 – 5 p.m. I like that most (if not all) of the library branches in N. KY seem to be open seven days a week. That was not the case where I lived in E. TN.
Anyway, I sought out this branch because of a little blip I saw in some local publication about a Princess Diana exhibit. I expected more than a couple of glass bookshelves with paper dolls, some magazine covers and some collector plates. I would have appreciated some related biographies, newspaper article clippings, etc.
But back to the library itself, nice children’s area and plenty of public use computers.

As I child, my mother and grandmother would bribe me with trips to the Florence Library in order to get me to do my chores. Yes, I was a book geek even all of those years ago.
Though the Florence Library no longer serves as the main branch in the Boone County Public Library system, this small extension still serves the community of Florence fairly well.
As with all of the libraries in Boone County, the staff is very helpful and will go above and beyond to help you locate items that you’re looking for. While the selection of novels and non-​fiction works is not amazing, the librarians are happy to find that you’re searching for to have it transferred, usually within a day or two.
Because it is so close to Boone County High School, the library gets pretty noisy when school lets out and fills with gossipy teenagers. There are a number of public computers, which include internet access, word-​processing programs, and periodical databases like EbscoHost.
If you’re working on your own lap-​top, most of the tables and work areas have power outlets nearby (unlike the Scheben branch) and there is free wi-​fi throughout.