Queens Borough Public Library – Broadway

Good selection, helpful staff. I love going to the library in general.

If you are looking for a library to study/​do school work in peace this is not the place.
It is always noisy, the employees do nothing to control this, they actually are just as loud themselves and unfriendly. The wifi is terrible. I have been waiting 10 minutes for a presentation to load…

I traveled there to see if they had the book I was looking for and when I got there I asked the librarian and he told me that they didnt. He could have ended it there but instead he called every branch to locate my book for me. On top of that, he made lovely chit chat with me and got so excited to be able to recommend some books for me! I checked out one of his recommendations and headed on my way to get my book from the other location. That man was so incredibly nice and great at his job. I will absolutely return for more recommendations!

I don’t have a printer at home so imagine my joy when I found out I could come here and print up to 20 pages a day for free with my library card! The computers are updated, the staff is friendly and I plan on making use of the facility more often!

This library has a really nice selection of books and it’s location is convinient for me since it’s up the block from where my boyfriend lives. I’ve only come here a handful of times, but their staff has always been really friendly and they really go out of their way to look up any info I require — like when a certain book is coming in, or what section I can find something in…
They have self-​service for both checking out and returning books which is nice if there is a line or you’re just feeling particularly anti-​social and just want to communicate with a machine… or your book is 2 weeks late *insert halo here*.
What is annoying to me and perhaps for reflective of the Queens Library System rather than this specific location, is that rather than give me a call or shoot me an email at least 3 days before my book is due letting me know that I should renew it (if I have renewals left, since I believe the limit is 3 renewals per book) they call when it’s a week overdue. That’s not cool guys.
I know you need funding, but that’s not a way to build relationships with the few library patrons that exist out there. NYPL (the Manhattan public library system) does a much better job at this, but I no longer work or live by a convinent Manhattan branch. Sigh. I’d be tempted to go with 3.5 but can’t bring myself to go with 4. Maybe after I go back a few times and pay off my fine, lol.

Good selection of books, with very knowledgeable and enthusiastic librarians.

I didn’t try to get work done here, so I didn’t care about the noise level. And even though I didn’t really give this library a chance — and I will explain why — it did look like a popular community center. My experiences here, though, have been profoundly negative. The man at the Librarian desk today seemed confused: He gave me very little useful information, and at least one of his suggestions was wrong. A woman behind the Customer Service counter didn’t seem interested in giving me any customer service, and she was really quite rude. Another woman behind the counter mentioned that the manager was downstairs. It was obvious that no one was willing or able to help me, so I found the manager myself — only after talking to another woman who unlocked a door, mumbled something and closed the door in my face. The manager came out a moment later and seemed genuinely concerned about my experience, but at that point I was fed up. I started to tell him what happened, and he offered to come upstairs and help me. I told him I was not interested in his help. He then spluttered and grumbled, and as I was getting back on the elevator to leave, he made a personal comment about me. Congratulations, Queens Library — you lost a potentially loyal patron.

In the days of yore, the nyc public libraries I frequented were a dismal joke. I mean, we’re talking the 90s here. So I couldn’t help but be impressed with how they’ve changed over the years.
I don’t understand the volume complaints. Yes, the children’s floor upstairs can be a little loud — there’s story time and tutoring time and all sorts of things. No, the downstairs floor keeps at a respectable level and it’s fine. Yes, sometimes a group of special-​ed adults comes through and yes, sometimes that’s when the volume can go up. If children and those with special needs annoy you… Well then…
Yes, there are people who may be homeless spending the day in the row of chairs by the window. No, they don’t bother anyone and this is New York and, more specifically, a PUBLIC library. Snobs, go to Barnes and Noble if you got a problem.
Cool things:
1– the rental and return process is so super easy with super strong card readers. You can stack your books on the reader and your purse and it can read everything all at once — technology rocks!
2– Lots of DVDs, though a lot of them can get scratched. Especially the kid movies.
3– Reading circles, Zumba classes, and other fun programs — for free!
4– Books, of course!
Things that need work and why only 3 stars at the moment:
1– The kid floor is under renovations till… TBD… not a good sign. The kid section is now a little dismal room in the basement.
2– The selection is limited comparatively to Manhattan libraries.
3– There can always and should be more and MORE programs.
The library is an oasis for good kids, the elderly, and all those in between to find refuge. You can see it in the siblings tutoring one another or the grandmothers at storytime with babies. Queens is full of personalities and YES, we can be loud. But that’s our style and don’t judge us on it.

I see that lot of grown ups complaining about the children in the library, but they don’t understand this is Queens library not Long Island library.
NYC libraries are all loud and full of children, everybody knows this, that’s why grown ups go to read in places like Queens comfort, Starbucks and Kinship.
For kids this place rocks, their only respite in the neighborhood to escape busy parks and streets. They can read or borrow tons of books for free. They have no complains.
One thing is odd though– some days the library opens at 1pm and some days at 2pm, so know before you come.
All in all a good library.

This library is okay. I’m a huge fan of BPL and Queens doesn’t come close, but its decent enough. I generally only stop in to pick up holds. The staff is always so grouchy and off-​putting. Its always insanely crowded. They have a decent enough selection of books to get from that location.

As good a collection of printed material as any Queens Library branch and interlibrary loans work well. Clean and orderly facility. Great programming for the community, compost collection on Saturday mornings and every so often other surprises like like music out front.

Staff tries but feel intimidated it seems to quiet loud teenagers who choose to hang rather than study. So, this is in line what other reviewers have said.
On the other hand the hours have improved so people working can drop off their books after 5.
bad news is the selection ranges from Ok and relevant to irrelevant and poor. For example, to find mathematics books on calculus all they had were study aids — no textbooks.
Yet I find a fascinating book about the top math problems of the 20^th century.
The recent fiction aisle looked OK but limited.
History seemed a bit jumbled in quality — some nice bios of statement but I found few more comprehensive, global histories.
As one who has lived in Astoria a long time, I find the library serves as 1) a huge hangout for youths to chatter sometimes 2) there are loud adults — usually anxious to use the computers. But why 2 stars? The hours for a local library have improved, the presentation and stacking of books have improved. They do offer some nice programs for kids and the community and they have some selections of foreign films to take out.
It would be a great library if 1) They had a larger space for adults 2) They had staffers comfortable kicking out repeatedly loud kids (and even adults) 30 Improve the selection of books much more.

This is a very good installment of the Queens Library System. Logan is an fantastic help when you need help with finding titles or doing research. The graphic novel selection is fantastic, however for some reason it is broken up into two places in the library (???) so if you are looking for all the volumes of a series you have to check both the teen graphic novel section and the regular graphic novel section. The space is clean and organized. I am much closer to the library near Ditmars but always make the 25 minute walk to the Broadway location because of how great the space and staff are.

A clean library in a good location – or so it seems. It’s proximity to Broadway and Steinway seems ideal. However, the train station (R – Steinway) is directly below the library and the train rolls by like clockwork.
The lighting at the working tables was below average – blinds were drawn closed though it was a nice day outside. There was no clear signage for how to obtain a library card, and without a card, there is no access to WiFi. Several of the librarians were busy helping patrons, and appeared to do so happily, however, I couldn’t track anyone down to ask for a library card.
I will return as it is close to my apartment, but am not sure it will be my go-​to study locale.

The 3 stars are mainly for the their online book requests, clearly labeled self-​serve book pick-​up, and fancy scanners at check out your books all at once. Quick & efficient.
Other than that, I thought this library would have been larger, being in a busy location. It always seems crowded with seniors/​students hanging around and with a lot of kids playing computer games.

I used to get a lot of work done here when I was in High School. I spent many hours here with my friends trying to complete projects for class but I usualy found that it was kind of noisy to get any real acedemic work done. so I usually just played Magic: The Gathering until people told us to leave. ahhh the good olde days of being stuck in a Library forced to do schoolwork that sucked.

Library — where one expects to read, study, and educate themselves in a QUIET manner.
The first floor was crowded, kids running around and I thought, «ok, I’ll check out the upstairs.» I saw that it was the children’s section but there was not a soul up there. I sat down, pulled out my books, started to study, and the librarian (who I walked passed to get there) asked me if I was meeting a child. I said no, and she explained it was a childrens only section, would get EXTREMELY busy, and I could not stay. I was annoyed she didn’t tell me this in the first place but decided to move downstairs.
I found a place to sit down, took out my books again and started on my timed exam. About ten minutes into it, a man comes up to me, asks me if I’m 21 or younger. I said no, and he explained I was in the teenager section and had to move. I looked around, didn’t see a single sign, and asked him exactly where I was allowed to sit in this place. He explained anywhere on the other side or the library (which is literally like 25 feet from where I was sitting). So I moved even though I had been treated like a pedophile.
On the «other side» I put my books down AGAIN to try and take my timed exam, with children running through the aisles of books screaming and giggling. People are at the main desk asking questions as loud as can be while yelling at their kids to calm down. Completely fed up with this place I packed up my stuff and marched to the front of the library. The man that instructed me to move from the teenager section was assisting someone as I interrupted them asking him where there was an actual place in the entire library that was quiet and I was ALLOWED to sit. He apologized for kicking me out and said that the area I was in was the only area.
So basically I wasn’t allowed to study in the kids or teenager section that was not even marked as such, but screaming children are allowed to disturb adults in the miniature section they are even allowed to sit.
This library should just be in Grand Central Station.

In the course of the last few months I’ve been to New York a handful of times and I’ve been surprised at the NYC experience. It hasn’t been what I expected of Gotham: loud, obnoxious people who are oblivious to the rest of society around them, homeless people in odd places, burnt out civil servants and random street crime.
If I got mugged here it would have hit all of my negative misconceptions about New York and all in one convenient location!
I walked in here on Saturday to have a quiet space to be able to work through a project and instead what I got was unseen children screaming. Homeless people crunched into the overstuffed chairs, dead to the world and people loudly talking in a library. There are a few places that you should expect silence and violators should immediately be put into a sack and beaten with sticks:
1)a funeral
2)a theater
3)a library
You figure that that kind of decorum would just be built into people. One woman was loudly complaining about how she was waiting on a computer so she could go on the internet but her name came off-​because she wasn’t there to claim it. She counter-​claimed that the screen keeps switching and the librarian said it switches from the kids’ computers to the adult computers and back again. The woman said, I don’t know about all that, but my name isn’t on there anymore and I’ve been sitting right here.
The next loud people were going through the library and one was talking about her gardening hobby and how she LOVES it and plants flowers in old logs. Well, welcome to the early 2000s, you’re a bit late on that trend and second, I really could care less about your rhubarb plant maybe you should take it down a notch?
The staff themselves though seem to have given up on keeping things quiet and I heard the phrase ‘I just don’t want a bad evaluation’ repeated 5 times while I was there. I would rate this place lower but it’s books you can check out for free-​which is better than paying for them.

I totally agree with Clark, except on one point. I think the manager’s hair is gray, not white. I’ve been to practically every library in the Queens system and employees like him are far and few between. I can name them on one hand. He has such enthusiasm for his job and it shows. And believe me it’s not an easy job dealing with the public. I’ve noticed that some of the clerks are pleasant also but there will always be some who are burnt out and they don’t try to hide it. But that’s at every library.
I’ve also found that there is a terrific selection of new books which makes me happy and the seating is good when I just want to relax with a magazine. I think they’ve done a fine job with the renovation.
Yes, it’s as good as it gets for the Queens Library system. Perfect for the neighborhood.

I wanted to find a place to study, but this library is LOUD.
On top of that, I went up to the second floor, which is the quietest part of the library. No one was in there, and it was clearly a children’s section. As I was busting out my books, I was told I couldn’t stay up there because I didn’t have a child with me. I mean, I get the potential pedophile concerns, but I was studying, and it was the quietest part in the whole library. Something needs to be changed.