I visited the Hermetheus coffee shop that is located in this downtown library and I decided to peruse the library itself since I hadn't been here before. The entrance has the coffee shop and a librarian to help direct people to the various floors. The books are on the second floor, and that is the floor that I went to. All of the people that worked there were very nice and helpful. I had a great experience with the various librarians. The second floor if you get out of the elevator and turn right is the adult/teen section with nonfiction and fiction. If you turn to the left, it is the children's section. I visited both areas and checked out books in both. This is a smaller library, but nicely updated. They have a play section in the middle of the kids section for smaller kids. I checked out some toddler books for my grandson as well. read more

Olathe Downtown Library - Kids area - Libraries Near Me - Olathe, Kansas

See all

This is a BEAUTIFUL library. However, there is not nearly enough seating for people to work at. There are only a few study rooms, and most are dedicated to specific activities only. I would love to be able to do my work and study in this beautiful library, but there is just not enough room. I think adding more study rooms and seating should be taken into consideration. read more

Super friendly & helpful staff. Very clean, quiet & absolutely gorgeous. Can check out so many items for use, many fun classes & programs...and a little cafe downstairs in the lobby. read more

See all

I took a 35 dollar Uber ride to this PATHETIC example of a library only to find that they had only ONE BOOK on martial arts. PERIOD, including wrestling and boxing. That book was checked out of course. This library was built with millions of dollars of bizarre modern art sculptures but it's book selection even BESIDES martial arts is TERRIBLE! The Olathe bureaucrats that designed and funded this ABORTION should be EXCORIATED, which is just what I'm doing here. This place is a "mini convention ENT SELECTION OF BOOKS! YOU WILL BE DISAPPOINTED, and if you UBER there as I did you'll be out some CASH TOO! The city of Olathe overall pretty much SUCKS in the same way as this review points out the WORTHLESSNESS of Olathe city library! On top of everything else they designed the place with the restrooms on the second floor along with the books. For the life of me I can't figure out what the Hell most of the space is for in this ridiculous building. The tiny town of Spring Hill, Kansas has a better selection of books than the Olathe Library. That town's population couldn't possible exceed 3,000 compared to Olathe's 145.000 plus! This library isn't a pimple on a decent library's BUTT! read more

The new library is nice but the layout is odd. Like it was designed just for the modern look, not the full function. Not very handicapped friendly either. Opening day and the elevators aren't even working, I couldn't see any other way for people to get upstairs. It seems like a good space for small meetings or study groups and to take kids for a couple of hours so they can play video games. This place definitely doesn't have a library feel to it (except the 3rd floor) and if that was the goal then they have succeeded! Book selections are small but I have been informed that they are happy to request books from other libraries for you. read more

Olathe Downtown Library - Library hours - Libraries Near Me - Olathe, Kansas

We loved our visit to the new library! Our city has worked very hard for a long time and it has paid off! There are tons of individual rooms to rent for studying and a teen gaming room (all glass walls so the younger ones can peek in too)! The 3rd floor courtyard is so beautiful! Full of beautiful flowers and ground cover greenery. Great views as well. Also love the cafe area, staffed and run by Sweet Tees. Always a delight to have STs in there! Of course the kids area has quite a few toy options to play with, or space to relax and read. Love it! read more

See all

I attended the ribbon cutting and grand opening of the brand new Olathe Downtown Library today. I am so glad Olathe chose to keep a library at the heart of downtown, and it is a beautiful building. Some of the best features of the new library include a large event space - "The Flex Theatre," an outdoor amphitheatre, a locally owned coffee shop, and a rooftop terrace. The building is full of windows with lots of natural light. Some of the downsides seem to be a very choppy layout spread across 4 pretty small floors. There isn't much on each floor, and overall - it really seems to lack a gathering place - a place to feel like you're amongst others at a community library. I was pleased that there seemed to be ample parking - I got a nearby spot despite the high traffic today. The outdoor Michael E. Copeland Civic Center Park on the front side of the library is beautiful, and will certainly be a focal point of the Olathe downtown for years to come. The library opening was absolutely packed, so it was hard to sense what the normal flow will feel like. I'll have to revisit and update my review later. read more

See all

It's a free library so that's already a win. My girlfriend and I came here to work on some stuff and were a little disappointed. It's very beautiful on the outside, the water feature is gorgeous, and the landscaping is very pleasing. On the inside its a little off. Definitely was hot in a lot of the areas that had seating and there was many people being distracting which made it hard to work. They definitely seem to have a decent selection of books, the labeling did seem pretty vague on the other hand. Overall it's a cool place, and for being free it's definitely worth going to. Especially with the resources they seem to have available. read more

We love libraries and have visited many in Johnson County and other cities... this one is nice and shiny and new but left a lot to be desired. There are a few parking lots and some street parking, which is convenient. On level 1 you'll find a cafe with really reasonable snack and drink prices. You also pick up holds there. The second level has a small area for kids "play" that didn't have many available (yet?) play options, along with a somewhat confusing layout of kids books. Adult books are also on this level. It took us a few minutes to figure out how to access the outdoor area on the third floor--the stairway signs do not specify where to exit to find it, if you aren't already aware of the floor number. Walk through the small periodicals section on the third floor to find it. The outdoor area is beautiful and has plenty of seating and some shade. This (and the green space/fountains outside) was probably the best part of the new location. The employees we encountered were friendly and helpful! Unfortunately, the accessibility is not great. The disabled parking spots on the lowest parking level require you to navigate up a zigzag ramp to get to the first floor entrance. (There is a ground/basement level but the doors were locked and nothing was in there yet, that we could see) Two people stopped me to ask if I knew how to get in when we were walking to and from our car. When I asked inside, they seemed apologetic, however the only suggestion was to park on the upper level if they had accessible parking spots open there. The fountains were also hard to access if wheelchairs or walkers were used. Obviously, they had to meet ADA requirements so I'm hoping this is just a temporary problem. However, overall, I still felt like the layout and sparse collection of books didn't feel inviting. It almost felt like more of a meeting space or shared workspace than a library. If you don't have kids or accessibility needs, this location might be up your alley. read more

Olathe Downtown Library - One of the fountains outside level one - Libraries Near Me - Olathe, Kansas

See all

The Library has tons of amenities and ways for kids to have fun. This review is not about that but the coffee at the cafe. I had a sticky toffee warm - this was one off the best coffees I have ever had, flavor was unique and a definite must try. It was so good my granddaughter wouldn't give it back, after I let her taste it! read more

Thanks for lookin out for us, Olathe. Good stuff. I like it. I love it, I gotta have it ;)

I love layout of this library. I know others don't like the choppiness of it, but I feel like it's easier to keep floors quieter, and also lots of places to study or ready privately. I love the terrace! Such a fun addition. The only downfall, which I almost gave 4 stars for....is that there is no drive up book drop off. You have to park, get out of your car, and drop off the book at a sidewalk drop off. They REALLY should look into adding a drive up drop off box. Overall, I love the look and feel of the library and am so glad this is the new library! read more

How can you not give a library 5 stars?!? This library is funded by Olathe, but partnerships with Johnson County. That means you have access to a larger selection and the libraries will transport the books back and forth for FREE. This library isn't the biggest, and they're dealing with space issues because of the flooding at the other property. However, it does have a good selection, plenty of place to read or study and a nice children's section. The staff is also super amazing and helpful. The library also has a small Maker's Space with camera and a green screen, ukuleles for checkout, sewing machines, and a place to digitize pictures. This is free and open to anyone via reservations or just by dropping in. The staff will also help you understand how to use each piece of equipment and has resources for more in depth tutorials. Last tidbit, the new Olathe library, once finished, will be much larger (68,000 square feet) and will have a larger Maker's Space. read more

A TOTAL DISGRACE!! Incompetent leadership at the Olathe Public library. Return drop box at 151st & Murlen has been out of service for 1 year. They should have had at a temporary replacement in place until the permanent one was put in place. No one in the area can return there library items. Can't believe it takes them 360 days to put back a drop box. Incompetent and slow staff who can't get anything done, they would be fired if they had a job at a private company. Government money being wasted by these people. A TOTAL DISGRACE!! read more

I have been coming here for 8 years since I moved down the street. It is strange how this is part of the Johnson County library circuit, but still maintains a separate website and even their own library cards. It is the smaller of the two Olathe libraries. Even though it has the old Olathe downtown charm, many upgrades are continuously made to it. However, it has plenty of the basics of a library. The presence of a cop on the premises for security was a strange addition. I think it is more for keeping the younger crowd inline. As in the summer time and evening it can get to looking like a school house. Staff is helpful and nice when asked. read more

Olathe Downtown Library - Libraries Near Me - Olathe, Kansas

what can u say about a place like this that has books,dvd, computers and magazine, this is the last of it kind and soon they will be no more the staff is friendly did u know u go to there site and download a magazine and keep for awhile I will post information about this,this place is downtown Olathe parking is not as big but plenty of parking in the area, great kids section and adult too read more

Olathe Downtown Library - If u stay inside all the time u will never see beauty - Libraries Near Me - Olathe, Kansas

When going to the library you want to have a staff that is helpful and informed. This location is just sad, they need to replace the entire staff. Never should an answer to a question be "I don't know" or "I can't answer that." If you don't know the answer to the question please do your job and find someone who does. Super thumbs down on this place, 3rd strike and you're out. I will find my library needs elsewhere. read more

This is an OK library. I like that you can get books from the other Johnson county libraries, that makes it easier to find what I'm looking for. I think they are always trying to make it better, but it still lacks some of the features of the bigger Johnson County Libraries. read more

My daycare provider takes my son's along with her other daycare kids to Storytime routinely. There are six children 4 and under and she makes a valiant effort to get the children out, teach them how to behave in public and instill a love for reading. Today she visited the Park Street location and when one of the two year olds started to melt down while the other five children were sitting quietly at story time, she moved off to the side to handle the Tantrum. But that was not good enough for the librarian and it was requested of my daycare provider that she leave the area all together until she got the two-year-old calmed. When she explained the issues with leaving five other children unattended to the librarian and asked if they should just leave then, The Librarians response was "That's probably a good idea". Mind you while all of this is happening everyone else there is staring because now the librarian is making a scene and keeping my provider from dealing with a tantruming two-year-old. So she did the only thing she could at that point and she took all six children that she had in her care, including five of them who were sitting quietly and enjoying the story time they had been looking so forward to, and she left at the request of the librarian. My two sons and four other kids had one of their favorite activities ruined for them today by an incredibly unprofessional and insensitive adult. 4 hours after the Fiasco my child and his four-year-old friend we're still posing questions to the daycare provider about why they had to leave because they weren't being bad. I'm sorry Olathe library but I think it's pretty ridiculous to have to explain to a three and four year old that one crotchety woman ruined their day especially when she's representing your company. The best part about all of this is that when my daycare provider called your location to speak to the supervisor and let her know about the interaction, the supervisors response to my provider was that they didn't all have to leave, she just needed to take the two-year-old that was throwing a fit. Well as I stated above, thank God my provider has more common sense than the people that you have working at your establishment and she didn't take that incredibly poor advice and leave five other children sitting in a circle unattended. Since Windows safety of children outweigh the fact that you are bothered by a two year old who was being dealt with and calming down, but you couldn't wait. The supervisor also had the audacity to tell my daycare provider that the issue was not the things that happened, but rather the way she interpreted them. Don't worry, we have already been sharing this all over Facebook and will continue to do so in order to spare other providers in parents the embarrassment and frustration that our group went through today. While doing our sharing we are coming across a large number of people who have had equally awful experiences at your location and like us, have now decided to take our children elsewhere. So, my point in writing all of this is that I would hope people realize that children sometimes throw a fit. I hope people give the caretakers an opportunity to take care of it without humiliating them or adding stress to the situation. I hope people have Grace for people when they are out with groups of children and don't ask them to sacrifice safety for convenience. And when all of these things fail, I truly hope that somebody in a supervisory position would have a little more training with sensitivity and more focus on helping their staff to be more patient as opposed to villainizing the person who was already humiliated. Thank you for ruining my kids day and the day of five others. read more

LOVE my library. Have been going here since it opened. Staff is always very helpful and friendly. You can request items to be quickly transferred from anywhere in the JOCO Library system. read more

We went to Day Care Storytime at the Library today. We have been multiple times and LOVE it. The kiddos really look forward to going and being read to, they love the songs and finger plays. Not this time! I have six kiddos - 8m, 18mx2, 21m, 3y and 4y. Today, they were wiggly, a little fussy and didn't want to sit and listen. The 21mo threw a fit, so I took her outside the door to calm her. I came back in and sat down. The others were moving around, but we sat at the back so that they could without disturbing others. My 4yo with ADHD was extra wiggly/chatty today, but was handling himself well. The 18mo twins are new to storytime, so they were learning how to behave there. The librarian kept stopping to give me looks. When the 21mo ramped up again, the librarian stopped and said I could wait with her outside the door and watch the other five from the window. Really? So I sarcastically asked if she would like us to leave. She said that would probably be for the best! I'm trying to get the kiddos excited to read and be in their library, but when they act like kids, they are asked to leave?! I was so mad I cried! We left and I'm not sure if we're going back. I will call and talk to a supervisor this evening. read more