Chinn Park Regional Library

Pros:
+ The library has a large selection of books and the librarians at checkout are very nice and helpful.
+ The books are very well organized compared to other PWC libraries.
+ Everything is very clean
+ Check-​out librarians offer to order books from other libraries
Cons:
— We waited for a «token» for a library program today and they ran out of space with 5 families left. They told us to come back at the 2:00 show if our kids were in that age range. If not, tough luck. I requested a token for that time, but was told, in a harsh tone, that they only start handing them out at 1:30. I am not disappointing my child twice in one day in the event that they run out of tokens again. I can understand not wanting to hand out tokens all day, but for people already in line, its unnecessary to be so rigid. Even a «rain check» to turn in for a token at the later time would have been nice.
— Library is much louder than you’d expect.

Love studying here! Today the wifi wasn’t working though and they suggested to go to McDonald’s across the street to study :/

I have been going to Chinn Park since 1999. Here’s my overall thoughts about it.
–There is a variety of programs for kids.
–They have a variety of pamphlets in the entrance to various community things.
–They have a separate quiet room.
–Free Wifi. If you want to use the library computer for internet and don’t have a membership, the fee is $ 2.
–They actually have a comment /​suggestion board towards the checkout part of the library that you can see clearly. I appreciate that as some places tend to hide that.
–If they don’t have the book you want, they will ship it in from another library, even if that library isn’t in Prince William county. That’s a great service for anyone that is trying to be budget conscious.
–Bathrooms are clean most of the time.
–The hours are pretty good for a library: Monday-​Thursday 10AM — 9PM — Friday & Saturday 10AM — 5PM – (during the school year) Sunday 12 Noon — 5PM.
–The building itself and the outside are well maintained and look good.
–There is a lot of seating.
–You can hang out here for hours at a time easily.
Downside:
–There is a lot of seating, but because this library is popular, that doesn’t always guarantee that you will find a seat.
–Information desk is not good at handling lots of people which happens because this location is popular. Sometimes they are very slow.
–While, I have never had anyone be outright rude to me here, some of the staff can come off as cold and impersonal.
–The parking lot can be a nightmare to get into and out of at times.
–Getting back onto Prince William parkway from this location can be a nightmare to deal with and confusing for a first timer.
–Due to how popular this location is, this place is starting to get cramped inside. Not just because of people, but because of all the equipment and books and computers that are all over the place. They need to figure out an easier way to organize everything so that it is easier to navigate around this place without bumping into someone or having to keep stopping and going.
–Back in the day, they used to have privacy screens on the computers. I think they need to bring that back, because sometimes if you are using the computer for internet, someone can easily see you dealing with personal information such as e-​mails, entering log-​in info and passwords, etc.

Very nice workers at this library. There are a large variety of books to choose from, but all the good ones are usually out of stock.

This is an awesome library. They offer so many kids programs. I’m visiting family for a couple weeks and so far I’ve taken my 2yr old son here twice for the Tues & Wed book reading times at 10:30am. The librarians are really nice & friendly. They even have toys & games in the Children’s Books section for the kids to play with. Too bad I couldn’t sign up for a library card cuz I’m not a resident, but I can just use my sister’s card. I’ll definitely be back next week and maybe even for the arts & crafts later on in the month, if I happen to extend my visit.

I meet a lot of students here to tutor them. The space is nice and open, with lots of natural light. There is a good selection of books and periodicals – as it is the largest library on this eastern side of Prince William County. The free wifi and plenty of tables to work from make this my go-​to destination for tutoring. Just be careful of story-​hour — that story lady is loud!