The big blue monolith that is the Brunswick library, shares it site with the Brunswick Town Hall…read more The library is actually set in the old Town Hall theatre. Once you walk off the street you are met with an art deco foyer that makes you think you might see a film that still has an intermission. The foyer has some toilets that run off it that are spacious and in serious need of renovation - especially to the stink. The interior of the library is spacious. The shelves of books run in loops and lines in the theatre space. Unfortunately the stage isn't used for anything - they should definitely incorporate it, so to with the balcony that runs around the wall, at the moment it's just wasted space. There is a ok selection of books, music and film here. Only a few computers for Internet use - but yes it's still free, and the staff are super friendly. When I started asking about the actual site, they seemed to get excited and 1 went off and printed off a few pages of information for me. I was informed of an upcoming renovation and the large cracks in the walls were pointed out to me. I really hope they incorporate the stage.

The Brunswick Library is among the spacious and well loved of public libraries in the inner…read morenorthern suburbs. Housed in the old theatre of Brunswick Town Hall, it's got a relatively decent range of books, films and CDs in its collection that are free for anyone who wants to join up to borrow. The loan period errs on the short side for books, and there's a system of late fees for those tardy with returns. Anything out on loan can be booked for the whopping fee of $1.00, and will be held for you for a couple of days. The computers operate under a booking system, and they can be quite strict about this process so as to allow people without access to computers at home or at work to hook into the cyber age. There seems to be a good sized collection of foreign language books etc. to cater for Brunswick's famously multicultural (and multi-linguistic) community. There's also a bafflingly large collection of large print books for anyone who likes reading giant text. Readings and performances aimed at engaging with children's literacy are also held fairly regularly. The online catalogue can be confusing at times, with more specific search terms such as authors and titles often not churning out the desired results despite being present in their collection. Nonetheless, it's easy enough to work out a system around this, such as asking a librarian to do it for you. I find that usually gets you what you were looking for. But like any small library, it has its limitations, and finding more obscure books can be a bit hit and miss.

Since I was a child I've loved the sense of comfort public libraries give me; the smell of old…read moreleather and worn pages of the rows upon rows of books. The tranquility and peace, and above all the feeling that anything you could ever want to know is, quite literally, right at your fingertips. Glenroy Library gives me that same effect, but now as an adult I've got a greater reason to appreciate this public space; my two young children who are starting to enjoy a love of reading and literature. Coming across this library only 12 months ago when moving to the area; I am so impressed by the way they cater for everybody. I try to make it a weekly or at least fortnightly visit with my kids, from Nursery Rhyme Time for my baby boy, and Storytime for my five year old daughter. These programs are just sensational and have taught my children that above all, reading is fun and about imagination and creativity. And afterwards my daughter stocks up from the massive selection of kids books. Private, quiet seating areas, public lounge reading areas and a fantastic, welcoming kids corner for kids to sit and look at the variety of books available to them all add to the appeal. They've got all the categories you'd expect from a library, I love their collection of war stories from WWI and WWII and the great range of biographies and autobiographies available for loan. In fact, the only reason they don't get five stars is due to the sometimes disorganised referencing system. Check out the Glenroy Library section of the Moreland website for days and times of the kids programs. Open every day, and on Monday to Thursday until 8pm - there's no reason not to make it a weekly family date!

I strongly believe the Maribyrnong Library is the best because they have enjoyable books and nice…read morestories. It's also quiet and it's really nice and has all kinds of books . Lastly the staff are really wonderful because they have good service and they help you when you need help. You should definitely visit Maribyrnong Library. Written by FI - aged 8

Given we are in for a week of really high temperatures, we decided to head to our local library to…read moreescape the heat. Pros * Nice large library with great aircon * Books glorious books! Who can go past a good book! * High Speed Internet and computers to surf the net on * Quiet! Cons * Little miss is of crawling age and after half an hour of crawling around she had black knees. They might need to get their carpet steam cleaned once in a while.