The Bartholomew County Library is another amazing functional architectural structure in Columbus,…read moreIndiana. The building was designed by I. M. Pei in 1969 with an addition by James Paris in 1987. What I noticed first was an incredible sculpture that stands in the Library plaza. The sculpture, known as Large Arch, was created by Henry Moore in 1971. Inside the library are high ceilings with a modern and spacious feel. There are large sections of adult books on the first and second floor. On the first floor are public computers, newspapers and other resources. There is a large teen area with skylights and comfy seating. In the basement are conference and a class room and an incredible children's library, complete with play areas and a puppet show stage. There is an outdoor patio off of the children's section. On the second floor is a indoor garden atrium that brings in natural light. The staff is helpful. There is a space where they sell excess and used books. There were several oil paintings by notable Hoosier artists. There is also a small veteran tribute near the front entrance. There is free parking on the west and back sides of the facility. I would put this library at the top of the Indiana libraries that I have visited.

Very nice, well kept, clean, and organized library. Lots of books and free use computers. Friendly…read moreand helpful staff can help you find what you seek. Cool large piece of artwork on the grounds. Nice place to find a real book versus an online book, for those who prefer the old fashion way of reading, ha. Plenty of relaxing and comfy private seating along with nice tables for multi book researching. Located downtown and walking distance to many other businesses.

https://www.facebook.com/SeymourOktoberfest/…read more https://www.seymouroktoberfest.com/ Seymour, Indiana, just celebrated its 45th annual downtown Oktoberfest (2017) complete with tons of food and craft vendors, fair rides, a Biergarten, music on several stages and much more. As a local, I have attended about 35 years of Seymour Oktoberfest, and truly, it just keeps getting better each year. Parking is not a problem since the event is so large (most of downtown) and there's a shuttle that takes people back / forth from the Seymour High School parking lot to the library (next to the Biergarten). The shuttle is tractor drawn, so that's fun to do anyway. On the 5 separate stages of the event are all sorts of music including a German-style 7-member band (made up mostly of local area teachers), cloggers, bluegrass, local rock bands, etc. I really like how soloists (or duets) will just be randomly placed throughout the event playing music (ie. accordion players, banjo/string bass duets, etc.). The parade starts at 1:30 every year and is huge! 5 area high school marching bands perform along the route, tons of church and non-profit floats, way too many people walking with politicians and candy is given out by many. Grab a seat somewhere away from the corner of Walnut and 2nd St. (by the library / Biergarten) since that can be a little crowded. Regarding what food to eat, ugh, that's tough to say. There's so much good from which to choose. The Sati-babi is always a crowd favorite (hunks of flame-grilled pork on a stick) along with the apple dumpling (which usually sells out). If you go away hungry, you weren't trying hard enough. Finally, the Biergarten. The logistics are pretty good with coming in and leaving, but they could have a little more room at the line to get your beer. I could have just gone at a time when they were doing contests (ie. stein holding, etc.) and that caused a bit of a bottleneck. The choices are pretty good with plenty of the mass-produced watered-down stuff (Bud Light, etc.) but they have a nice selection of German-style and local beers (ie. Spaten, Salt Creek Brewery (Bedford, IN), etc.). Hats off to the organizers and all the volunteers. So much of the event proceeds go to local non-profits. What a fun way to support good causes.

My afternoon "office" for a few hours, I spent my time here pounding out emails and (quietly)…read moredialed in to a Zoom bridge or two. A comfortable work space in the corner where my laptops and phone plugged in and charged. The library is quite large and spacious. Lots of interesting spaces, tons of stacks of books, I thought the shelf of role playing game kits was a unique offering. You do not need to be a local resident in order to use the library, only to borrow materials. [Review 20560 overall - 98 in Indiana - 1541 of 2023.]

SO I was nervous to go to this location which was so silly in hindsight (to go to the downtown…read morelocation) because I'm spoiled by the Southside location by my house. Extensive water damage has closed the Southern location till at least June 2024 so here I was looking for kids' North Dakota books for a school report. Not only did I find an extensive amount of books for my son, I got him some graphic novels, some launchpads, some free seeds from the seed library and a free subscription to the New York Times and Wall Street Journal. I was also intrigued by the library of mysterious things upstairs. The ambience was clean, well thought out, and the staff was superb. I will be back without hesitation. I heard there is a drive-through to drop stuff off for parents with young kids. I have noticed there were a ton of parents and small children there for various groups. Looks promising!

Big disclaimer. Libraries are for people, and university libraries are really for students, and I…read morewandered in with no intention of studying or getting information -- only to gawk and admire a showy display of botanical books as I kicked around campus. Given that the Lilly Library is set aside for rare books and special collections, it's probably not the favorite of most students. But this little place is a beaut, and we waltzed in, were greeted with nothing but smiles, and I just stumbled right across the room and there was that Gutenberg Bible staring right back at me, flanked by John Ford's Oscars and lovely Audubon prints and plenty of other nice items set out to tickle my fancy. Libraries should be publicly funded, not propped up by endowments from pharmaceutical companies, and that includes showy little libraries. But there are worse things you can do with a big pile of pharma money than to build a little palace for the people.

What an incredible collection! Free, and a true campus gem.read more

This place is the best! The librarians are so nice but take library cards without telling you.read more

I am constantly pleased to live in a county with such a good library and to have a branch as fine…read moreas Ellettsville. Staff are always so gracious and pleasant. Loans or transfers come from the main library so efficiently that my requests online take only a couple of days and I do not need to go downtown. Parking is usually (but not always) available without hassle. Inside is clean and fresh an open. We should all have an annual, appreciate your library day. People just do not realize what a huge thing this is if they have always enjoyed these benefits! They have also had the easy check out for years, buzz your card, press your pin, pop down your book and hey presto, you are out the door. I love to speak to the librarians but when they are busy or I am ni a hurry this is terrific.

This library has a small town feel with a big sense of community…read more As with most public libraries in Indiana, the Shelby County Public Library's roots were enabled by a $20,000 grant from Andrew Carnegie in 1901. The original Neo-Classical building opened June 1903 in Shelbyville and bears Carnegie's name. The limestone facility has undergone several renovations and expansions resulting in today's library complex, which includes the main building and annex. The main building houses adult books, dvd's, and other reading materials. There are a few tables and comfy chairs to study or read. The older Carnegie portion houses large print books and retains some of the original woodwork and leaded-glass doors. The lower level of the library houses the Children's library collection with play, learning areas and publicly available computers. The area has a recently added sensory wall. During my visit, the area was packed with boisterous children and parents for a summer event. There was a distinct energy in the space. To the east of the main building, the annex houses genealogy and history resources. The staff is busy helping patrons throughout the complex. The sprawling, busy library has a campus feel. Patrons come to socialize as well as find reading material. There is a lovely courtyard behind the main building with dedicated parking. Additional free street parking is available in front of the buildings.

This library is easy to find and located close to a CVS, not far from Walmart or fast food…read moreestablishments. The computer room is across the street which is highly inconvenient. There are several tables but, they lack a lot of outlets for those with laptops. They are unaware of hope to operate the scanning machine. They are nice to talk with and very willing to assist you but, they lack a lot of knowledge when it comes to higher levels of technological needs.

This store seems to be a place that changes for the sake of change. If it were good change, that…read morewould be great. Fortunately, all is not lost. Some of the good is still there. What's not good is downright ridiculous. For some reason, instead of fiction having nice wide open spaces where you can peruse books and find something new, it's now mostly in an aisle just wide enough for 2 people to stand in. Imagine standing in front of a bookshelf that goes from the floor to 6-7 feet in the air. Imagine not being able to back up more than a step or two and trying to see what's on the shelf. It's not an easy feat. Meanwhile, there is a great open sea in the middle of the store that's wide open. Clearance, you'll be happy to know, now takes up the former fiction spot. So the books that are easiest to see are the ones nobody really wants. Makes perfect sense. In other ideas that clearly make perfect sense, with fewer DVDs on the shelves these days, an upper shelf that is very convenient to browse has a few titles with the cover side out. The bottom shelf, where almost no one wants to go, is still full of product. Changing something and improving it is welcome. Changing it and actively making it worse sucks. I used to spend a fair amount of time browsing. Now I hit a couple of areas and I'm done. Oh - whoever decided putting a dvd rack by the exit should not be making important decisions. Ever. Other than that, it's an ok place to shop.

Awesome Bloomington shop. Wide open isles and very good AC. Neat look. Staff is chatty. It is an…read moreall-around delight. Please, don't go out of business - we need Half Price Books! Review: 5+

Love love love this library! We are frequent patrons of this library. Our family has a great time…read morehere. Our son has read over 1000 books over 4 years n is thirsty for more great reading experiences. We love abundant resources for learning and information. We also love their movies DVD rentals options. Love it!

The main branch of the Louisville library located at 4th and York is in a beautiful building,…read morewhich, according to a plaque, was built between 1905 and 1908 and donated as a gift from Andrew Carnegie. While a gorgeous building, I can't properly rate it as I haven't used the library as a patron -- I haven't borrowed a book or spent time in there studying, so I don't really know how good a library it is. But as a tourist passing by, it was a good place to stop in for a look at the architecture and to use their washroom and fill up our water bottles, which was very much needed on such a hot day. [Yelp collections: Louisville/Indianapolis 2023; Louisville, KY 2023; Libraries and Bookstores; Pee for free!]

Super easy to land here and use the library as my second "office" of the day. Lots of spaces here…read moreand there for sitting quietly and a few tables available if you need to set out a laptop. Power outlets are a bit of a challenge but that's probably because this is a 110 year old building. Wifi worked well and is unfiltered. Lots of stacks of books including fiction, non-fiction, reference and periodicals. It's super quiet and super beautiful and a great place to do your thing as long as you're quiet. [Review 20187 overall - 228 in Kentucky - 1164 of 2023.]