Reviews of Oak Park Public Library - Main Library (Library)

Ajay S

Great library and very quiet. Lots of space to work, study, and even chat if need be. Library is massive which is always a plus point. There is an ample amount of library parking in the garage.

Ali Alabbas

One of the greatest libraries ever. So many books. Good area for children to play and read.

Norman S.

Nos encanta este lugar, mis pequeños pasan horas divirtiéndose y leyendo, tienen gran variedad de libros, actividades para todas las edades, y la tecnología nos facilita hacer línea para poder sacar lo que necesitamos, si necesitas ayuda no dudes en preguntar al equipo que trabaja aquí, todos son muy amables

R. Spencer

Place looks good but there is more to it than that. On Sunday 8/4/19. I was in the quiet room. Had A Eveready battery charger plugging in on the side wall. I was there at the end of day 6pm. walked out forgot charger. Came 9am the next day, charger was gone from plug. Some teacher group for kids had taken the room prior to open of library, and had plugged something into location where I had charger. I ask them did they see anything they said if it ain't here it ain't here. Went directly to third floor desk, nothing there. Went to lost and found , lady there said she was there last night at closing and described charger to me and said it should be in lost and found location. however after a long wait {15 min. or more), another guy came out in a red security shirt and said they cant find it in lost and found and it may be in a security safe an the don't have the key, he took my ph# and said he would get back with me, which was a week ago and I have not heard a thing since. Long story short my charger was stolen by one of the library reps or one of the teacher reps. Either way I was robbed. Also, the place is always crowed by people who don;t live in the area, the thire floor is terrible, it needs provisions for people with laptops.

Tamsin Mavric

Lovely building.Bought a lovely tote at Reception. Saw some lovely books.Seems to be a well equipped Library.

Lawrence Anderson II

I thought it was a library.. Why so loud???? Its uncalled for.

C

Overall, a spacious library with a lot of resources but the library can be very loud at times with the library staff not doing anything about controlling the noise level.

Clarice Tongco

Wide variety of books. Staff are accommodating and helpful.

Glenn Russell

Very nice place. 2nd floor gets a little loud after school!

JS S

Utterly gorgeous library. I love coming here!

Erin Coleman-Fountain

Very good use of community space. Diverse programming, knowledgeable and friendly librarians and support staff plus indoor parking garage.

Alice Wunderkin

Update: This place is horrible. Teenagers come over from the high school and treat this place like a hang out club. The homeless people on the third floor come to sleep or hog the computers upstairs or treat this place like a default shelter. The third floor is for silence and minimal noise but they all sit in groups to talk using their outside voices. Security comes by to "shush'' them and very rarely do they tell them to leave. They break library property and destroy the furniture. I would go to a bar, its quieter.

Patricia H

The resources are there, but the place is not well organized for all the services it provides. It's as if it is always being rearranged piecemeal depending on what group of users, in the name of diversity, screams the most. Hey, I am a senior and would like a recliner and nap area! It's a shame the library has this "identity complex" because it is frustrating to use. It cannot be a bookstore, Redbox, snackshop, teen center, homeless shelter, internet cafe, theater, concert hall, playground, daycare, school, etc... This library needs strong leadership and planning. The Friends can't do it. They can't even handle the booksale.

Dick McKinlay

OPPL is one of the most fundamental institutions and valuable assets of the community. It is top notch in every respect, and centrally involved in most aspects of Village life. I treasure the Library.

John Michelotti

The Oak Park Library is centrally located. Provides Wi-Fi for patrons and guests, and has a wealth of on line resources available with you library card.

Sue Wil

As a bibliophile and library lover, I love this place. Excellent collection, wonderful programming, of course has a "Hold" system that allows one to borrow any books (oops, I'm dating myself) BOOKS & OTHER MATERIALS from other area libraries, so if they don't have it on shelf, you can still get it. Really a model for what a library should be. It even has its own social workers, which is amazing, and a brilliant idea given that public libraries are one of the few places that welcome visibly low-income people. Or should welcome them. And where the homeless can go to sit out polar-vortex days and use a restroom. Now they can get actual on-site help and direction to resources for their underlying issues. Also enormous, and very spiffy and well-maintained, with helpful staff. Monitors by the elevators show the events/group meetings going on & where; and there are no stairs required to access the building or any of its collections.

Kellie K

honestly not my favorite place to go get work done. for as big as it is, it’s almost impossible to find a table on the weekends, and to confirm what many others have said: people here don’t know what indoor voices are, apparently. it also sucks that you have to pay to park longer than 2 hours. might as well head to a coffee shop if you need a study space.

John Kokoris

Awesome collection, great staff, cool buildings (amazing main building but check out the branches for a different (still nice) experience... Everything looks good and runs perfectly. The front desk staff (often a weak point at libraries) is so friendly and cool. This is an example of a library done right! Only wish is that they had a few more programs/wider variety (I wish they'd do more outreach towards the poorer parts of OP and even nonresident Austinites).

Sarah Sadiqaphoenix

Best public library in this state I've been so far, very quiet and condusive for studying

Al Dixon

Excellent service

Peter Thomas

Looks awesome. Staff awesome. But both colored printers broken. They also need to upgrade their scanner. You can only scam an save on flash drive. Lots of other libraries you can scan to email or phone and lots more very easily. I think every floor should have a colored printer I was uo and down 3floors gettin my errands done.

Hannah Campbell

This library is beautiful. The staff are fantastic. The selection is excellent. I spend a lot of time here with my 2 year old. The children's area is great with lots of activities and things to play with as well as a great selection of books displayed in a way that my toddler can easily pick her own. The story times and other children's events are all phenomenal. The park is also super excellent. There is a great summer concert series here for families and the tot lot is very appropriate for younger kids. Plus, the park has free wifi so you can look at your phone instead of watch your kids, if you want!

Keawanna Boyd

Me and my family love this place #homeawayfromhome

Janice Belen

Helpful staff. Beautiful library. So lucky to have this resource

Mark Perryman

It always has the latest DVD and Blueray movies.

MorePorridgePlease

Always a good place to sit. Clean. No more late fees. Great people.

Jessica Chmielarz

I love this library it is the test it has so much stuff and it so big and amazing I love it

Miriam Smith

They really should call this the Oak Park Social Club with Books instead of a library. It is very nice for that purpose, but for a library, it is simply too loud. I agree with the other posters that this place is simply too loud for studying. People walk into the quiet areas to have phone conversations or round-table discussions or eat meals. The silent room is often full of people listening to music or watching movies on their laptops who can’t hear the noise they’re making. I tried to study for the LSAT here, and I ended up finding more peace and quiet in a coffee shop. The staff is largely unhelpful and unwilling to enforce quiet. I suggest just going in, borrowing your books, and taking them home.

Rod M.

The only reason this place does not get a 5 Star Review is the folks talking from time to time and the folks that use their phone's in the Study areas. Outside of these 2 issues. I Love the place. I never realized how much I enjoy studying or reading in a library. Lets thank the Arabs for introducing the concept of a Library to the world. Or should I say the Muslims. Google it.

Seungook Won

I had been there 9 years ago. There was a wonderful place for everyone.

Mark Ferreira

The worst place for college students to study! Kids/Teens running all around the library shouting and playing with each other. The librarians on the 2nd floor voices are VERY loud. Libraries are suppose to be quiet places to study and read. CLEARLY NOT THIS ONE! (Tried the 3rd floor which was no different in noise level) I tried to study here and had to stick my fingers in my ears to try to read. I WOULD NEVER RETURN HERE!!!

Alison Wathen

I used to live in Oak Park and the library was a haven for me, the book collection both and degital is extensive, while also providing wonder reading spaces. I loved the columns on the first floor with book suggestions/popular books from every section.

Jackson Hassler

Great selection, and it is very nice that they took away the fines. The only big problem is that it is way to loud, and as other reviews said, it is like a social club.

Mansoor Khan

Absolute bliss for parents to get their kids book-friendly. Also when around, checkout their PBS collection in video section.

Alexandra Baran

Every library should be like this one. The children's section is on the first floor. There is a fish tank that greats you when you enter the kid's section. Very handicap and child friendly layout. Abundant amount of resources, there are computers available and tablets to rent while there. The first floor has plenty of activities for children of all ages to do. There is even a specific room for smaller children with toddler toys to play with. The staff is polite and courteous. Never had an issue. The parking garage underneath is extremely convenient with free parking for the first hour or two I believe. The book return slot is an automatic one, kind of different. Great place to go. I highly recommend it to those with little ones (I have a 2 and 4 year old).

Sebastian Perez

It was awesome as f**k

Rebeca Hisa

Great nice and clean Library with Free wifi and very spacious

Maxine Rivera

Very nice library in the Oak Park area, reminds me of Harold Washington Library downtown but better. I would definitely come back here

Carol Casual

I don't live around the Oak Park area but I stopped around just to check the library out. The library is very beautiful. Plus, they have couches. I have never seen a library with couches before. They also have so many collections of new dvds and music. So much to choose from!

David Ellison

Black kids are sometimes talking in the computer and smart off to me when I tell them to quiet down.The monitor of the computer room says she can not do any thing about it.I called Jim Madigan the director and I cannot get any satisfaction from him.

Death

I got bed bugs from this place. It was one of worst experiences I ever had to go through. I tried suing but it was just a waste of time. I guess they just thought I was trying to get money out of them. I have disabilitating OCD so I wouldn't exactly waste what little time I have on dealing with the pain in the a** process of suing someone. I am forever traumatized of going to any library ever again. Thank you.

young mango

Laurie's the best!!!

Jim Spoolstra

Excellent library and staff.

arelis campbell

Always come to this place for some peace and quiet. Best place to get work done and the place is always clean.

cristina Loarca

Love it! Is clean, huge and has big selection. The parking lot is of great convinience. Is very kid/toddler friendly, has tons of activities for kids.

Jan G

Love this library. Huge book selection. Nice people. Parking free.

Shiny Hunter 15

Good selection and good place to sit

Jephthah Woods

Nice place to study

Jacqueline Porter

This was a very beautiful library, the architecture is beautiful. The stairwell is made of glass panels with wonderful writing on it. The lightning Is glorious, even the wood paneling on the fittest floor is outstanding. I would advice everyone to take a tour in your first visit. Even the view out of the windows are nice.