Ferguson Library

Awesome library. I like the collection of magazines… books and most imprtantly the environment. The staff is very friendly and helpful. Highly recommend.

Really excellent library in the centre of Stamford. The Ferguson Library is a large network of libraries across the city, and the book selection is huge. Books can be requested to be picked up at the library if they’re not in when you want them, and it’s easy to keep track of your account online to renew books etc.
Inside the library, there are plenty of seats to relax and read. They also provide magazines and newspapers for free, and membership of the library is completely free too! I joined as a Friend for $ 25 for a year. This means I can get a discount in the library bookshop, and in the lovely Starbucks adjoining the library. This, as well, is a great place to relax and read, with nice drinks and staff.

I was really hoping to love this place. I study/​write a lot as part of my work and was hoping to get close access to a nice study spot. This just isn’t it. People are loud, and it’s almost like no one got the memo that it’s a fricking library. It’s also not super clean. We’ve started going to libraries in surrounding towns and have found them to be better. Sorry, maybe I caught this place on a bad night, the other reviews are so dissimilar from mine, but as far as I can tell, if you’re looking for a good place to get work done, check out other libraries nearby.

I love, love, love this place.
If you have children, bring them here.
The people who work in the library are really great and I have always felt nothing but welcomed.
Thank you.

My paradise. Nice place to go, very quiet nice select of international books «Spanish» movies also no bad. Nothing to compare with Darien library. (The only thing is the parking but we have Burlington, thank god, the other bad thing is too many homeless around there)

I’ve loved this library since I was 5. I grew up in a tiny town in NJ, where the library was about 10 shelves of books. I loved reading so when I would visit my Dad in CT for the weekend, he would bring me here. For a child, this library is amazing. Its enormous. They also make it easy to find a book that you’re looking for. If they don’t have it, they can check the other libraries and either have it sent there or put it on hold for you to go pick it up.
They have computers to use (that area can get pretty crowded though) On the rare occasion that I’ve needed help, the librarians have always been really helpful.

I’ve lived in five different cities in Connecticut and visited libraries in each city. Ferguson is the best library I’ve been to, and it may be the best in the state. The building is so spacious, there are so many quiet places to read or do work. You can sit at a table in the middle of the floor, or by the window, or between the shelves. There are electrical outlets EVERYWHERE. The sofas are so comfortable. Starbucks is right next door. If you’re looking to occupy your children’s free time, this library has a huge section for kids. I can’t believe that this library is free… GREAT use of taxpayer’s money. The only con is that there isn’t much parking… but that’s how it is in downtown stamford.

I moved here from another city, where I sometimes used the library, but I was not prepared for the Ferguson! Spacious, as WX noted, but additionally, the staff is wonderful! Every section I have gone in, I have asked for help (I’m lost when it comes to the Dewey Decimal System) and every librarian has cheerfully jumped up and come to my rescue. Consequently, I now use the public library frequently. I have to agree with DL about the used bookstore: AMAZING! I spend (too much?) time combing through the books– seeing a multitude of unused, gorgeous hard covers that I have been dying to read– for only a few dollars! Also, I have supplemented a teacher’s elementary classroom library with fantastic storybooks, content-​area books, workbooks, etc. On my last trip, I purchased 40 (forty!) books for school and home, for $ 78.00. Ranging from $ 1 – 5. My ‘Nook’ is gathering dust, since it’s so easy to stock up on the next novel. I still haven’t made it to the attached Starbucks, to leaf through my purchases with a latte, because I stay in the library until closing. As an aside, although I don’t have young children, they have a really active summer reading club, with prizes and a free concert as rewards for reading. Honestly, I haven’t noticed the indigent people hanging out, although the reviewer who mentioned this seemed quite knowledgeable. When I go there, it’s lively with families and readers of all ages. Another Stamford-​area 5 star find– so glad I moved here!

As far as community public library goes, this place is pretty spacious, they are doing renovations to the basement so expect more space/​shelves to come.
This library network has a few branches and thus more books than the nearby Norwalk library. The computer interface for internet account access is not that well designed, and especially not «freeze» option for HOLDs…
– again, POOR technology/​computer book selections. GOOD children’s, fiction and general reading stuff.
maybe their IT department can start working on those new features/​projects.
– Oh, and longer weeknight hours/​weekend hours would be nice.

Ferguson Library has a limited selection of books for adults mostly geared toward leisure readers (from the summer reading list, god bless it, to the extensive selection of Dean Koontz) and an impressive children’s section that used to serve me well. A scholar or college student almost certainly won’t find what they’re looking for here. Also, if you’re a deadbeat student with no summer job like me who wants to read and take shelter in the library at 11:00 AM on a Monday, it’s lousy with bums reading the newspaper and enjoying the AC.
Its exceptional feature is my favorite used bookstore, The Friends of Ferguson Library Used Bookshop on the main floor. I always look down on the friends that are so happy to buy a $ 5.00 book from Housing Works, Alabaster, or the Westsider when I can get classics for the flat price of a $ 1.00 (it used to be 50 cents, sigh). Every time I go to Stamford, I come home with 6 books. The latest were Mrs. Dalloway, The World of Jeeves, The Bell Jar, The Death of Artemio Cruz… There’s nothing like sitting with a bagful of classics in the adjacent Starbucks, cracked out on coffee and reading Bridget Jones off the shelves.
Besides, I was the lucky girl who had all the books for my 19^th century novel class since high school.