Libraries are beautiful places to read and learn. This location is no different! Come for the peace, stay for the ambiance. read more

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This was my first time coming to this location of the Howard County Libraries. The selection of books is great. There is an upstairs and downstairs in this library. Nice location. read more

Central Library, Howard County Library System One of the best kid friendly library with awesome and very friendly and knowledgeable librarians in Central Branch Howard County. For younger readers, the weekly Lil' Learners program provides storytelling, singing, dancing and creating craft or artwork, that offer different storyline and craft activity weekly. They also have all month long of scavenger hunt around the kid's books area, it's super fun and exciting, for kids ages. Snacks and drinks vending machines are available at main entrance lobby. PS: everyday 4PM, they provide snacks and drinks for 18yy and under. 10375 Little Patuxent Pkwy, Columbia, MD 21044 daily 10AM - 9PM, Sunday 1-5PM restrooms inside the library, and accessible for both strollers and wheelchairs. accessible for strollers and wheelchairs parking lot around the building EV chargers available on parking lot. ℹ hclibrary.org #centralbranchlibrary #hocolibrary #preservefootprints read more

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Howard County administration is going from bad to worst. At the last 15 min., they decide to close the library for some bogus reason of bad hvac. Temperture was just fine. POOR CUSTOMER SERVICE AND POOR JUDGEMENT CALL!!!!!!!! read more

The library people there are always very helpful. I have been going there for years, primarily to use their computers, upstairs, or to use their photocopy machines. Whenever you need help finding a certain book, or having problems in using the computers, the librarians are always willing to assist you in solving the problems, immediately. There are many areas of interest in books, DVDs, and picture displays that invite visitors to explore the entire library. The Central Branch is my favorite library! read more

great place for student. Different resources, if you arrived early a Solo rooms are avsilable

Took my twin toddler boys here to get them good and tired before bed time and maybe find a few books along the way. So happy we came to this library. There were lots of other parents here on a Tuesday around noon and a huge bin filled with different truck toys for the kids to play with. My boys played for at least a half hour, found 5 books and played with some other kids. It was an all around win for everyone. read more

Howard County Library System - Central Branch - Kids books section - Libraries Near Me - Columbia, Maryland

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Howard County recently re-opened their libraries for in-person visits by reservation. To browse through the collection, you check-in with staff at the front and have 45 minutes to browse the two floors. As my first time here, I was in awe at how big this branch is. Since they're limiting the # of folks who can enter, it seemed bigger-than-needed and deadly quiet, but I could see how bustling it would be otherwise. Tons of space for children and adults to get their work done. Downstairs is the children's section and fiction books + upstairs is the non-fiction and other resource guides, plus a huge manga collection. I didn't want to ask too many questions to keep six feet distance, but it was pretty confusing navigating the space as a first-timer. I do think that the 45 mins is cutting it close - I barely had enough time to browse, sit on the floor and read a snippet, and check-out. Hope they will up the time soon! read more

Very clean inside, with nice small, easy to navigate curated sections. The staff were friendly and helped me sign up for my library card.

Finally finish the remodeling the library. This place huge and lots of empty spaces. To be honest, I really don't like it so much. Lots of empty space with desk. All the computers are upstairs. The carpet is nice and beautiful and pretty. The staff are still nice and friendly. read more

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This is my new local library and I really enjoy it! The staff is very passionate about books. They're incredibly helpful and friendly. They even waived a fine for me once after I explained the situation with a particular book that was damaged. The selection is very wide with good options for all types of media, including DVDs and audiobooks. They even have a graphics novels section. They have plenty of computers for public use and side rooms for meetings and study. The staff explained how I could check my account information on-line also. A great library to visit and experience. Columbia is fortunate to have a library of this caliber. read more

Brand new facility; everyone and everything here is what Central Columbia needs in a library -- an overload of resources when you enter there is the help desk where you can check out or find which conference room you have arrived for. Around the bend is the children's center, so huge and even an adjoining room for events and classes. Upstairs a computer area and general finds for references, non fiction and fiction as well as periodicals and media. HoCo Public Libraries is definitely the best, you'll love it here. read more

Central branch is one of the better Howard County libraries. I like coming here because it's large and has plenty of tables to sit down and do homework. Use the tables upstairs away from the children's area. This library is also not located next to an elementary school like the one off Cradlerock is so you don't have to deal with a bunch of loud obnoxious kid running around and swearing at each other. You also won't find here the ghetto dad surfing Facebook on the library computer while cursing out his little 2-yr old daughter for crying and disturbing him while he's surfing. So yea, come to this library. Don't go to the one on Cradlerock unless you have no choice. I've never had to worry about leaving my laptop on the table while I went to the restroom here. Parking lot here at Central branch can be tough sometimes because it's so popular. read more

I love this library and the Howard County Library system. There is a massive selection of books, movies and books on CD. It seems you can find close to everything you would want and if you cannot find it in the library, you can usually request it online. Except for a few incredibly popular items, my wait time has been short. I love the kids section, as does my daughter. There are even plenty of activities available for kids and programs to encourage them to read. I think my daughter may like this library better than the play area at the mall which is a massive relief to me. read more

This was a very nice library the last time i used it. However, about three weeks ago it was closed during open hours. I am not sure how long it is closed for. read more

I love the renovations that they have done in here. It feels more roomy and more refreshing. I also like how they put all the public access computers on the second floor. It also seems much brighter inside the library. Didn't walk around, so I cant really speak on anything else that might have changed. read more

With the new 2016 renovation, the Howard County Library System needlessly tried to reinvent the wheel. And failed spectacularly. To the tune of almost $1 million of our tax dollars. What did we pay for? Awful carpeting that distracts*, a pointless rearranging of the elements, fewer books (why?), and more multimedia elements. Worst of all, the "new books" section has been moved from its quiet space upstairs to downstairs near the noisy check-out desk. So now while you're perusing new books you hear all the chatter and commotion of people checking out. They also put the new books in small bookcases, which are very low to the floor. That makes it harder to actually see the new titles -- which is the whole point. Who came up with this awful idea? This is indicative of the way the Howard County Library is going. They seem far more concerned with being showy and winning national awards than serving local citizens. Locals might have noticed that poor planning on the part of County Exec Allan Kittleman and library head Valerie Gross now have several other branches closed at the same time. I dread to think what the Elkridge and East Columbia branches will look like when they reopen. But luckily I don't have to. I lived in Baltimore County when I was in college and plan on seeing if I can get a library card there again. Those branches are now superior to the ones in Howard County in some ways. * This has to be seen to be believed. It's almost as if library workers got together to purposely choose the ugliest, most inappropriate pattern they could find. This is the carpet equivalent of sending out business emails in wedding text or cartoon print fonts. read more

Didn't see too much of the library other than the kids area which was very nice with a lot of things to do for them! One of the staff members, Missy, was quite uptight about my child playing with a stuffed animal. Apparently the stuffed animals - in the kids area - are not for kids to play with and she was a little intense at letting me know. Although odd, maybe put some signs up so people know that? read more

This library is awesome. Lots of computer room upstairs computers downstairs computer elevators huge bathroom very clean the staff is great they're there to help you and will find what you need whenever you need it you can call and ask questions over the phone lyrics kind concise and to the point read more

This library has a great selection of books and movies. I am impressed by the foreign film selection that is labeled by selection. The staff seems friendlier than at Anne Arundel County... There is a mailbox in the parking lot if you need to send out some mail...nothing like hitting 2 birds with one stone. read more

this place is great Stafford nice even though they tried to say that I picked up the books that he didn't

I love this library! The book collection is pretty amazing. They have everything I have ever came looking for. They also have a huge selection of DVDs and TV shows. And it's recent stuff too. Stuff that you'd actually want to watch. The kids section is great too. They have lots of bi-lingual kids books in a bunch of languages. The self-checkout is fast and easy to use. read more

Good afternoon! I wanted to give a special shout out to Deborah and Peggy, the two ladies that helped my group today! We are a group of teachers that needed a quiet space to collaborate and record a presentation, and these two lovely ladies were SO helpful. Thank you so much for being so pleasant and accommodating (there were four of us!). We will definitely be back! Thank you again! read more

Lovely library! Everybody is friendly and greets you with a smile. The staff is knowledgable and always willing to help. The kids area has the BEST librarians that interact with the children, give them little treats, and go out of there way to make a child smile! I used to be a nanny, and the kids and I spent lots of time here- happily! read more

Great place to read and study - well organized and well maintained. Staff are friendly and helpful.

If this is the best library in the county, that's sad. Don't come here for quiet or to do any serious research. It's too noisy and too many rude people on their cell phones. Just when you think it's going to get quiet, another cell phone rings. Ugggh! read more

I used to go to this library when I was younger in middle school and so I thought i would go there to study for my graduate school exam. However, I was asked to leave my table because it was "reserved" for project literacy, a program I support. However, the schedule posted did not show that the spot was reserved at that time slot. When I told the member it is not reserved he condescendingly read aloud another sign saying that these spots may be reserved at other times despite the schedule not showing it. I understood and left but it is how he approached the situation and spoke to me that I found rude. Did not ask politely or have a polite conversation to clarify the situation. I think the library should do more to provide the times that the tables are available as to not inconvenience other people trying to get work done there and so these situations can be avoided. These tables that are "reserved" are the only ones in the back where it is quiet and away from the clicking of the computers. I plan to go to a different branch next time as this one is just too loud otherwise and everything seems to be "reserved." read more