I love the Belleville Public Library. They have a great selection of new and old books. The movie selection is pretty big and anything you can't find they can have sent to you from another Library. Not only do they have multiple computers for use, they have a hotspot that you can check out for a month at a time. News papers, magazines, you name it !!! Last year around Halloween they had a ghost hunt in there at midnight it was so much fun. Now they have a Library Crawl going on during the month of October, where you visit Illinois Librarys and get a passport stamp. Sooo much fun. The staff is super helpful, so don't be shy. read more

The book selection was great and the staff were so nice! I look forward to keep visiting this library, as I have been going here for years!

I have read the reviews of other past raters, and am sorry for their past experience. I on the other hand have had much help and felt welcome. I have been going to this library every day for the past year. Why? I am a school bus driver, from the Randolph County area. I drive 20 minutes from my house to the bus yard, then pick up a student (Special Ed), and drive this student to a special school in the Belleville area. Because of the low pay and long distance drive, I made arrangements with my boss, who is also the owner of the bus company, that I can stay up there, that the Library is only 2 miles from the school, and I would have plenty to keep me occupied. Since it would also save him fuel/maintenance costs (making 1 trip as opposed to 2 trips), he allowed me to do that. They have been good to me. Yes sometimes it gets a little loud, and it has become a 2nd home for the less fortunate, but it has many great reference materials. It is an old building, but I view the architecture as a work of art. The second floor has a huge ceiling, with giant windows. It is nice and open. Thier reference section has shrunk down as they are re-arranging thier book set-up. They have undergone renovations, and changed thier computer policy. Now visitors can get 3, 30 minute sessions online. The computer system is now linked up to all of southern IL, from Cairo to Effingham. If you have a library card anywhere in the southern part of the state, even if you have a Carbondale, or Mt Vernon card, it is now good for checking any book out there. You can also access the Online Catalog system, and access your library account, and even place items on order yourself, and the staff will even show you how to do that if you ask them. I am writing this review upon my final visits, due to, as I will be driving to a different school starting next week, in a different area of the Metro East. They all knew what I did as a bus driver and was supportive of my being there as well. So I have had good experiences overall, and rate the place about a 4, because it is in a building of Historical Significance, the computer access policy, an awesome microfilm (of Belleville News Democrat - Back to 1930s) collection, and a great children's section as well. read more

Okay, so its a public library. And all public libraries are wonderful, simply because they are public libraries. This branch of the Belleville Public Library, however, is less wonderful than the numerous other public libraries I have been to. I was happy to be allowed to use their computers while traveling from out of the area.. I was not happy though to be asked to share the 15 minutes the curt, male librarian gave us (locals get 30-60 minutes) on the computer terminal that my boyfriend was using, especially because there were other open terminals. Their computers were incredibly slow.. running Windows 98, are you? Yes... but at least we could (s l o w l y) make use of the internet. In addition to plentiful slow computers, they also have two floors full of books and other good things in an air conditioned building right off the main drag. And the bathrooms in the lobby are locked for my safety. Woot. read more

As the woman stated above ! The library is wonderful!! That being said the staff members at the library is a different story. There are a few wonderful women that work there that are really helpful and friendly. Unfortunately there are a few rude employees that make the library not so enjoyable. Because I love to read and want my children to love to read I will continue to visit the library. read more

I visited this Library on 3 different occasions so my views are on those 3 visits. Unfortunately, this library, particularly the upstairs is quite loud at times. on one occasion there was a child crying (for a while) coupled with the staff having very loud conversations. Unfortunately for me, I utilize the library for quiet studying time for my research project. Part of the problem might be the age of the library as it is a historical looking older building. The high ceilings and absence of sound deadening material allow noises to bounce around. They have a good book selection as I found material i needed for my project. The staff, even though "loud" were quite nice. Not a quiet environment at all, of course people w phones ringing and the lack of traditional normal decency of the public is also a contributing factor to the noisiness of this Library read more

I agree, beautiful building, and great selection of books and other mesia, but staff is not overly friendly. The Belleville west branch library is much smaller, but i will drive across town to go there mainly because the staff is so friendly, and helpful. We have been going there for years and feel like many of the librarians at the west branch are friends. Downtown: not so much. Sorry. read more