Atlanta Fulton Public Library

Most libraries ask you to be quiet but the Sandy Springs Library asks you to quiet your being.
The building itself has seen better days and their selection of books is average but I like that they try to help visitors find zen. The majority of offerings on their community events calendar are for tai chi, vinyasa yoga and meditation – exercises to encourage mindfulness and stress reduction.
The chances to unwind continue outside the library walls. They have a small, tree shaded reading garden next to the parking lot. You can sit on one of the park benches and read or just sit and listen to birds chirp. The focal point of the garden is a labyrinth.
Its pathway is made of brick and gravel. At its center is a peace pole with the phrase «May Peace Prevail on Earth» etched on it in sixteen different languages including Arabic, Chinese, French, Spanish, Hindi, Swahili, Hebrew and Thai. It’s a little overgrown and covered with fallen pine needles, but you can still make out the outlines of a pathway.
Walking a labyrinth is supposed to be a good way to quiet the mind, to think of creative solutions to problems, to let go of stress and to pray and seek answers. So if you’re at the library to study or work for hours, it’s good to know you can take a break and recharge in the reading garden.
The classes, reading garden and labyrinth make the Sandy Springs branch a good place to not only read and work but also to relax and find peace.

Not as quiet as you would expect. It seems that the large majority of libraries here don’t care to have people talk out loud, and those talking out loud are not considerate of others who came to the library going for an environment in which they can focus. That’s a big disappointment of mine.
It is not a huge library and it isn’t very new. Although it has large windows, it feels a bit dark which I actually prefer over some places overpowered with fluorescent lighting.
They do have the kids’ section on one end/​wing of the library and the adult on the other, and I’m glad they keep it separate like that.
The WIFI is slow, and cuts off rather often.

If you are remotely close to another library, go there. There are two people working in this massive library, and that is not nearly enough. Nobody was at the information desk or children’s desk. There were two people at the main counter and they had a 5 – 10 people deep line my whole visit. They’ve also changed their hours.
Monday 12 – 8
Tuesday & Wednesday 10 – 6
Thursday 10 – 2
Friday-​Sunday 1 – 5.
Selection also isn’t as good and they really meet more efficient processes. The last working there had to walk to the back EVERY customer and sometimes more than once.

For those that don’t use the public libraries shame on you. Free books, DVD etc. Would have given 5 but the hours of operation at this location were decided by a schizophrenic.

After living in the neighborhood for over a year and in Atlanta for 11 years, I finally made it to the library and got a library card. Thank you, maternity leave, for giving me cabin fever and getting me to explore more.
I really should go to the library more. Especially this one. There’s ample parking, on both sides of the building, with entrances on Mount Vernon and Johnson Ferry. They’ve got sculptures out front that are on rotation, so you don’t seem the same art every time.
I went in search of books on babies (sleep, play, etc), and while the staff got me to one section that had plenty it wasn’t exactly what I was looking for. But the computers were down that day, so they couldn’t do much detailed searching and were relying on their memory of the Dewey decimal system. I can’t really fault them, since I’m lost without my computer.
They were however, able to check me out. I was thrilled that the standard check out time for the books I got was one month. A whole month! My hometown library was 2 weeks from what I recall. It’s less for audiobooks and DVDs, but still, that’s awesome. Normally they give you an electronic print out of when your items are due, but with the computers down, they just wrote it on a little slip. But since technology has so improved since I last regularly used a library, I’m probably far too excited that I got an email reminder that my books were due 2 days before the due date.
Since I had a sleeping baby with me when I went to return the books, I just used the book drop on the back of the building. There’s a little pull through from Johnson Ferry if you’re really in a hurry.
There’s also a room available that you can reserve for meetings.
Hopefully the convenience of this great branch will inspire me to frequent the library again. Amazon will be angry, but my wallet would appreciate it.
#Yelp365 — ⁷⁴⁄₃₆₅

While I live and work much closer to the AFPL’s Buckhead branch than the Sandy Springs branch, I’ll actually put off a library visit (a gasp-​worthy offense in my world) until I have other errands to run that’ll put me near the Sandy Springs library. The reason? The book selection — particularly of new books — is much vaster than Buckhead’s. I’m also kind of a YA fiction junkie, and YA has its own separate «new fiction» shelf at Sandy Springs. Whoever’s in charge of adding to that section does a great job — there’s always brand-​new stuff, and the section is growing constantly. It’s tripled in size since I began reading YA in earnest 2 years ago.
Plus, it’s got great places to hide. Sometimes I take my laptop there on Sunday afternoon and sit at one of the big tables at the back of the fiction section, or at one of the study desks around the corner. People really abide by the signs that ask for SILENCE in big letters, at least in those hidden sections.
The décor is nothing special. Late last year they closed the SS branch for two weeks while new carpet was installed. It looks exactly the same as the old carpet. Outside the library, though, there’s a grouping of modern sculptures in the front yard that faces Mt. Vernon Highway. I wouldn’t call myself a fan of all of them, but they definitely catch your eye as you’re walking inside.