I know nothing of the history of this place nor what they do for the community, besides the obvious (you know, free books, place to work, study, research, get movies and music, etc).
I was here because I was picking up my car nearby and that location (to be discussed in another post), and needed a place to work for the foreseeable future. I looked up public libraries near me and found the Melrose Park Public Library.
I drove over and muffed on the parking lot entirely. It came up before the building and I missed it, but parked right around the corner on the street across from a church (located behind the library). I walked in, saw workspaces and reserved one easily from the librarians up front. They were friendly and helpful and steered me into a specific workspace that had closed off walls so I could do a Teams Meeting without my headphones.
Their wi-fi was strong enough for me to do the work I needed to do without having to close any open tabs on my screen.
I was even able to eat in the workspace which is frowned upon at other libraries.
When I was done for the day, I thanked them and got to chat with them for a few moments. They were friendly and helpful. If I'm ever in the area again and need a workspace, I'm not going to Starbucks, I'm coming here. read more