Finally got a membership here in my 3rd year of working downtown and it's the best $65 I've spent…read morein 2025. There's so many cool events for both members and non-members. I've found books both popular and obscure. And it's free to come in, look around, and soak in the Hogwarts-esque energy. Which is even better after the recent extensive renovations.

Cincinnati's Hidden Gem. As the Mercantile library is on the 11th and 12th floor of the Mercantile…read morebuilding, take their dedicated elevator and enjoy its new and renovated beautiful place to chill, work, study and enjoy. There are so many reading groups and activities. And many great authors visit. You do not have to be a member to visit the library, there are too many benefits to list them all. Sign up for a tour! A household membership works out to be about 30 cents a day. A student membership is only $30 per year! Now the Mercantile library is renting their cool space for your special events including wedding! Visit and see for yourself. Great for residents, students and visitors! Highly recommended!

I love the library! Especially the main branch. My branch is the Clifton one, but that's for…read moreanother review. The main library downtown is more than a library. It's an event venue, it's a maker's space, it's a community resource, and it's central to Cincinnati's history. My personal favorite thing is that the Main library is starting to host after hours event. There was a Booked for the Night event where we got to do behind-the-scenes tours, snack at numerous food stations, and our ticket even included drinks. I hope they continue to have more evening events. It's the biggest library in the system, of course, so it's one of the best places to wander around and find a book that you never would have known otherwise. The maker space is next level. I always love a drive-thru for when I don't feel like getting out of my car. There is always something for everyone at the library, but especially at this branch. Check it out! (Get it??)

Such a big beautiful library with many options for kids and adults to enjoy. Spacious with many…read moreseats and study areas. So glad we stumbled across this gem!

The Cincinnati public library system is really great for the size of city that we live in. I'm…read moreconstantly impressed by how much they have to offer! The Oakley branch is very nice. It's well taken care of, and there's always a good selection of books, DVD's, and even CD's. Their selection of new books is good, but not laid out the best...I think it takes some getting used to to know where everything is. But overall a very cute, small library that is conveniently located off of Oakley Square! Oh, and free wi-fi!

It's the library, what's not to love?! The Oakley branch is pretty small, so browsing is limited,…read morebut I usually request whatever I want online and pick it up here. And I do mean whatever I want. It's rare for the Public Library of Cincinnati & Hamilton County to disappoint. Probably the best bargain for my tax dollars ever! I love it!

The Play Library is such an incredible place to visit for both kids and adults alike. I have taken…read morethe kids I babysit on multiple occasions and we always have such a great time. I was so excited to check out their new space on Main Street and it is absolutely beautiful. The main room when you walk in has some tables and practically every board game you can think of is available to play. The next room is more kid focused with TONS of board/games, blocks and manipulatives, cars, dress up and more! My favorite aspect of the room is the table that has swings instead of chairs! It is just so fun and whimsical. There is also a chair made entirely out of stuffed animals! You can become a member of the Play Library, and they have different levels of cost to check out different numbers of items at a time. I think this would be so great for families to have fresh toys and games to play with. Even if you don't want to become a member you can stop in their storefront just to play! This is a wonderful part of our community, and we are lucky to have it!

Great place to play. Board games just games. You can also give away Games books to. I highly…read morerecommend it for anyone grown-ups two

This is a great library. It's in a beautiful Carnegie building. The staff is always helpful and…read morerespectful. If you live close and drive to another library, check this place out.

My three children grew up going to this location. The staff are GREAT! Still know all three of my…read morekids names and it's been almost 10 years since the kids were in the reading group and other activities that the staff do for the children of Cleves and any child who comes to their location and I personally go out my way to go to this location where I ALWAYS feel welcomed. John DeMoss

Fantastic library! Staff is very friendly, helpful, and knowledgeable. Always something special…read morefor the kids. Summer programs are amazing. Easy to access building itself and one level once inside. A great place to browse, sit and read, or grab your books and go.

I am a local teacher, graduate student at NKU and have lived closely and visited this location for…read moreover a year now. Overall, I highly recommend this library. Here are my pros and cons: PROS -- fairly nice on the inside -- plenty of windows -- great study rooms -- lots of seating and tables around the building -- upstairs quiet area in the local history/genealogy for studying -- plenty of parking -- kind staff -- has security/local police on-site -- offers lots of resources and events for kids and families -- the staff has been doing a better job with ensuring that sketchy people stay out of the teen and kid areas CONS -- not the greatest location -- usually busy with quite a few sketchy people (my female friends don't like being alone here and I would not ever leave a child unsupervised here) -- cleaning needs to be increased a bit. This is probably because of how busy it is, but many times when I have been there have been quite a few dirty and/or sticky. -- I have had difficulty signing up for study rooms on Sunday at this particular location (but have been able to sign up fine for the Erlanger location) I hope this review helps someone (:

LOVE THE LIBRARY it's one of My families Favorite places to go they have so much to offer and a lot…read moreof resources To take advantage of I definitely recommend the library to anyone of any all ages because they have something for everyone

This is a cool and big used bookstore. There are some special editions and they do book binding…read moreand repair. There is a basement and then several floors to spend time checking out books. The service was really nice. There are a lot of older books and not as many newer books. I did think that the sections were well organized and alphabetized so it made it easier to search through. The prices were good as well. It's a nice place to come and browse and look for a hidden gem of a read.

I don't even know how to begin to describe this store. So many floors I believe five? For a book…read morelover it's like visiting the Mecca of Midwest bookstores. Owners are fantastic people and so knowledgeable about various genres of literature. Warning: Make sure you're not gonna be doing any other shopping after you stop in here because you're gonna walk out with plenty of books!

Notice that all of the good reviews are a decade old. This is not a library by any traditional…read moresense other than some books on the walls. It is constantly filled with loud teenagers playing videos games while cursing, having conversations, and walking around while on their phones. The study rooms don't meet the ceiling so you hear every conversation going on in them. Now several times there have been crying babies in there for hours. No longer can this be considered a quiet and peaceful place to read or study. It is loud and distracting even with headphones.

So during college I wrote my honor's thesis on Cincinnati's Carnegie libraries, and have spent…read moreextensive time studying all of them. Corryville is way up on my favorite of the surviving group of branches. Corryville was renovated fairly late compared to the other local Carnegies, and as a result they didn't destroy many of the architectural features, but rather enhanced them (compared to a place like Hyde Park, which is barely recognizable as a surviving Carnegie). The building is small, but quite cozy. It's pretty wild to see such an old building juxtaposed against all the new development, but I'm so glad it's still there and hasn't been razed for rental properties the way so many other Corryville buildings have been recently...

As the library tour continues, my most recent stop was at the Groesbeck Branch on Galbraith Road,…read moremaybe a quarter mile from Colerain Avenue. I didn't have high expectations for this branch, but I was actually pretty blown away by this library. In fact, I think it may have been the best branch (Main Library excluded) I've seen. I could tell it was fairly new, and as it turns out a 36-year-old branch was demolished in 1999 and completely rebuilt and then finished in May 2000. I would have guessed that it was just a few years old, rather than eight going on nine, because everything looked so new: carpet, shelves, counters, and even the bathrooms. While every branch in town seems to have a teen area, what I saw for the first time was a "TeenScene" neon sign. How cool is that? The overall design of the library is great, and it even includes "skylights, clerestory windows, and vaulted ceilings." The children's area was very nice too, and there was just an overall friendly environment to the whole library. Another neat thing the Groesbeck Branch offers is a drive-up window. In addition to having a drive through book drop, the library is one of four in Hamilton County to have an actual drive-up window. Wow.