From a scale of 1 to 10 how would you rate your local library and why?

[bugfeli]

i want to start off my reply by clarifying that in spite of everything i might lightly complain about, i completely adore my local library and i give it a commendable 10/10! of course, there is some nuances to it's existence.

my town is unbearably a glorified truck stop, almost directly off a main highway and surrounded by ever-growing industrial parks and factories. i'm honestly pretty sure half of the people i see driving on the way to work and school are out of towners passing through! so honestly the fact there's even a library at all is a bit of a miracle, but everyone who lives here has a bit of a pre-existing notion about the library because it's a new state-built one, which caused the beloved local one to shut down and become a historical landmark.

i similarly had this disdain towards the new library because i'd practically grew up in the old one, so it was a little annoying to have to visit the out-of-place, sleek & modern library for textbooks. but, after being forced into visiting i'd grown to really love it. the staff is so friendly and really care about their jobs, there's even a section next to the reserved study rooms which celebrate a famous quilter from our town. whenever i visit, there's always opportunities to help out the community and i can't help but smile when i pass the kid's section to see someone reading to a group of them.

even though i'll always favor the old library i can't say that the new one is a serious improvement despite how artificial it looks on the outside. writing this reminds me i actually have a library book due soon!

[candycanearter07]

8/10! My library has a ton of nice stuff and it's really close

well it turns out we might be MOVING IN THE NEXT COUPLE YEARS AGAIN AGAIN SO SCRATCH THAT :(

[musicobsessed107]

Alright, as a little update, my local public library is unfortunately closed for renovations until 2028, though there is another, smaller library in my hometown on the other side of town (my folks deem that part of town "bad" and really don't like the idea of me going over there, but I'm a 19 year old woman and I can do and go whatever the hell I want, plus, I just went over there a few days ago and came home without a single scratch).

There are also some libraries right outside of town I want to check out at some point anyways.

[IndigoGolem]

My town (USA) has a public library i go to a couple times a month. It has a good selection of books and DVDs. Some CDs, video games, and board games too. In all the time i've lived here i've only had to buy maybe 5 books they didn't have. It also can order stuff from other libraries around the country.

I don't find it a very cosy place. I'll check out books there but never stay to read instead of reading elsewhere. Staff are friendly and helpful but the place is well enough organized that i usually don't need to ask for help.

It is very quiet. That's probably nice for the people who do read there, of whom there are plenty, but the quiet does make me feel loud.

It doesn't have a great selection of non-English books. From what i remember there's a shelf of mostly Spanish books with some other widely spoken languages, but nothing i've ever been interested in learning so i don't know the details of the world languages shelf.

They accept donations, which is nice. I don't like holding onto things i'll never use again like most books, so i like having somewhere to take those where i know they'll get used. The hours when they accept donations are kind of limited, only a couple hours a day on weekdays, so it's taking me a while to get out there early enough to donate more stuff.

8/10, B grade.

[ialu]

Interesting post topic!

I have but one library in my city; in fact, I was just there reading an hour ago. I'd say I'd give it a solid 8.5/10. For one, I live in the United States, and in my state, a law was recently signed barring public libraries from putting books containing "depictions of homosexuality" in sections accessible to all ages; my library, despite being housed in a very conservative area, has opted to give the finger to this bill and instead hosted an entire display of books on LGBT+ rights and history for Pride Month. Beyond that, they have several books on anti-racism, activism, sexuality, and gender identity very easily accessible in their designated teen room, which is fantastic. When I was in the library today, they also had a small (unlabelled) selection of anti-imperialist works on a miscellaneous shelving unit; I was quite surprised, because that's quite rare even for progressive libraries. They also have plenty of neat resources such as kits for various hobbies; beyond that, the building is beautiful and spacious.

One-and-a-half points are docked for holding books that marginally annoy me (there is, for one, a hilarious book there entitled American Marxism; I haven't read it (and never will), but the back of the book, which was end-times fear mongering scrawling about how U.S. communists are coming to invade the country and must be battled, sort of told me what I needed to know), but it is a library, I suppose that is what it is supposed to do. (Still, how funny...)

[myleszey]

My local library gets 10 points. There are other, bigger libraries in nearby towns, but this one has been host to many events, some great, some boring. The fact that it is still getting budget increases approved is a miracle - the folks in our town will shriek in disgust if their taxes go up 50 cents.
New releases and culturally relevant books are always being promoted. There's a knitting club and a chess club. Once or twice, Drag Queen Story Hour was hosted there. The local church protested (Catholic) but as I hear no real trouble happened.