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    East Central Public Library

    5.0 (1 review)

    East Central Public Library Photos

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    2 months ago

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    Library of Hattiesburg-Petal-Forrest County

    Library of Hattiesburg-Petal-Forrest County

    4.0(6 reviews)
    65.2 mi

    Nothing quite like the smell of old books. This library is quite grand and was a welcome surprise…read more I did not need to do research or to check out a book. I needed a quiet and cool Place to hang out before my flight home and for about 3 hours. This library was so perfect for my needs. And it was much larger than I expected. There were large tables with several chairs and lots of space and there were small individual tables. I was able to catch up on some work!! Air conditioning in the Deep South and Work! Win win!! Oh! One other mention, their internet is super fast. Another plus for my needs. If you're looking for a place for study or work, give this library a try! I'll be back next time I'm in Hattiesburg.

    I'll start with the good, and there is a lot to like here. From the vast openness and beautiful…read morearchitectural design to its collections of books and media, computer lab with printing services and a helpful staff, meeting rooms, community events/activities, game/media center for teenagers, huge lower level children's area designed just for them, and an enclosed and mostly covered outdoor patio, it seems perfect at first glance. But spend some time there, and its problems permeate the space. Expect to be greeted at the front entrance steps to large puddles and accumulated mud due uncorrected incline drainage issues, fed by morning sprinklers and rain. If you require concentration and focus, be sure to request one of the three small individual study rooms as the noise level inside is high most of the times, and the rooms go fast! The vast openness and lack of textiles spreads and amplifies even normal conversations, and the frequent screaming child can be very distracting and annoying. Headphones can help, but noise-cancelling capability should be used, especially with earbuds. The noise level might be tolerable if a patron believed the staff was ACTIVELY trying to manage it as is expected in a normal library environment, but unfortunately, this is absolutely not the case as it is very hands off by the staff with the ONLY single action done--listening to a required complaint from a patron. But don't expect an intervention or change, as a noise complaint is usually tolerated and dismissed. And to emphasize the passivity to noise level, the library doesn't even have a SINGLE friendly-toned sign posted ANYWHERE to remind an unthinking or unaware or forgetting patron about using an inside voice within the library in its acoustically challenged environment. If it did, it would establish an expected boundary for noise level, and thereby giving patrons the assumption of potential verbal warnings for the non-compliant. Isn't that the very LEAST that they could do? But honestly, they should do so much more.

    Photos
    Library of Hattiesburg-Petal-Forrest County - Front entrance

    Front entrance

    Library of Hattiesburg-Petal-Forrest County - Ceiling

    Ceiling

    Library of Hattiesburg-Petal-Forrest County - Second level

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    Second level

    East Central Public Library - libraries - Updated October 2026

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