Was time for my husband to sign up for Medicare, he is temporarily working in Paducah, KY. Was a…read morebit nervous about about the experience since he is working here temporarily. Lisa made the process a delight; knowledgeable, polite and even a few laughs are just a few of the words that come to mind. All this and done within 30 minutes.....many times Government employees get a "bad rap", not this young lady.

Dear West Frankfort, please raise the taxes in your city, take the money and revitalize the…read morebuildings along Main Street. Your city has some of the coolest buildings from the beginning of the 20th century, and they're rotting away. The brick work is amazing, and it's a shame to see it going to waste.

Five HUGE stars for this Carnegie library--one of the few still in existence in the region, and the…read morelibrarian who's been here for decades: Margaret Mathis. The strengths of this library--the size of a small home with three or four rooms--are its multi-county genealogy resources, the children's reading area and the reference section. You won't find banks of computers, nor will you find a large reading room; just a very traditional, small town library across from the old Vienna (pronounced VY-anna) Court House. You can also buy books by local authors and genealogy reference materials directly from the library. Pay close attention to the hours: Open every day, 1pm-5pm; closed Thursday & Sunday. There's parking in front and around the courthouse.

The town of Vienna is so lucky to have this wonderful font of resources...any book you could want…read moreis available through a state lending program and the wait is very brief. I love being able to find most any book quickly and even if I need help finding what I want, the staff is willing to research the catalogs and get it. All the local history is here...every oral or printed. Check out this gem of a place!

I was on a multistate road trip when I got a business call that I must sign and return a document…read morewithin that hour. Poor cell connection during the day's travel meant prior calls had not come through that day and a hard deadline was here. Looking ahead on the travel route I picked Mt. Vernon as a place that might have the facilities I required. No e-sign, but print, ink sign, and scan/email (not fax) a document was the time sensitive task before me. I found that office supply chain store listed. A man answering there said the store did not have the capability to have me print a page from email, ink sign, and scan/email. I called this library. After explaining the scenario my call was placed on hold briefly. Upon her return the librarian told me they could help. The two staff involved in helping me achieve this process were pleasant. The only charge was 20 cents for the print of one sheet of paper! They handed me a thumb drive and a staff took care of the scanning. They stayed calm when I was feeling panicked and that helped! Support public funding for public entities including local libraries! They can help you out of a jam you'd never expect to be in. They're an education source and useful through all life stages. Big thanks to the staff here!

This place was my second home this summer! I was always here trying to study for one of my college…read moreexams. It's a great place to study and get away from distractions at home. It doesn't get too loud. I mean, come on, it's a library! They also have the air conditioning blasting over the summer so it feels great! There are plenty of tables to sit at and read, study, etc with outlets and free wi-fi! The selection of books, magazines, CDs and DVDs are a bit limited but you can always request items from other libraries and you can pick them up at this location which is convenient. The staff members are really friendly and always willing to help you out so I recommend coming here to study, find a good book or to get out of the heat! :)

The National Personnel Records Center is kind of like a theme park for historians and genealogists…read more Here is my rundown. GENERAL NPRC is only open 9-4, M-F and is closed holidays, so if you work traditional office hours, you're probably taking off work or using a comp day to visit. I've done both. ------------ PREP You must do an online orientation in order to research here. You'll get a researcher card w/ a number. If you're researching individual soldiers, you'll need to submit the paperwork in advance. (Keep reading.) Your research card will be made at your first visit. It's closer to a small piece of paper than a card. Bring your photo ID and your research card when you have a return visit. ------------ ARRIVING You have to go through something a little less intense than TSA to get in. You will be on a list if you've got an appointment. You will sign in at the front desk. You can bring very little into the research room. I brought my phone and charger today... and that was about it. NPRC provides paper for taking notes. You can't remove a sweater or jacket in the room. I am serious and I'm cool with it... pun unintended, but most welcomed. So wear layers and prepare to make a trip back to the locker if you don't guess correctly on the room temperature. ------------ SOLDIER FILES You need to submit form requests for soldier files at least a week... eh, ten days... two weeks? I think a month is recommended, but I will say a good three weeks in advance. NPRC doesn't keep the soldier files, like, right there in the room, because the are SO many. Millions of files. Not only millions of pages. Of files. Some of it is kept off-site. You can take photos of the documents with a phone or bring a scanner and laptop. I go phone because it's 2023 and I am a minimalist. The average Navy file takes me a good 20 or so minutes to photograph. I photograph every page and I am not reading it there, as such pleasure reading can be done at home. The average WWII Army file takes me 2 minutes to photograph because most of those burned in the 1973 fire. I have not yet seen a complete Army file. Staff will digitize photo negatives for you for a low $4 fee. These are most common (only?? IDK) in US Navy files. ------------ MICROFILM The readers are not the nifty digital kind. They're a bit old. But they work. Some of them print. You pay to print. You don't pay to take pics with your phone, and you can edit those, so that's what I recommend. The rolls are indexed... on microfilm. Staff will help you navigate this. ------------ EATING Hundreds of people work here... so many that they can support a convenience mart in the building. It has only a few tables. I ate at a wide, deep windowsill, as did a number of the employees. Bring a big lunch that you can scarf down on a busy research day. If you're planning on doing more research after lunch, you probably should not eat up (ha... okay, pun intended) too much of the day w/ having to sign out, drive, dine, return, and sign in an extra time. There aren't too many restaurants in the area anyway. ------------ ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT One thing that could be better in-person: the huge parking lot has a visitor section, but it's either halfway coned off or all the way, like it was today, yet people have still parked there... curious. I don't know how to figure out what the etiquette is except by asking and I always blank on stuff like that by the time a few minutes have passed. One thing that could be better online: the email address to which you send requests has autoresponse set up w/ a "we'll get back to you soon" message... and someone will get back to you soon... but I could totally see someone realizing she needs to send something else after that but before the real reply comes and then maybe she could hit "reply" and maybe something gets lost in the shuffle. I can envision something just like that happening to someone. Can you? Anyway, I'd love to see no autoresponse. I won't suggest having weekend or evening hours once per month because I don't see the federal government going for that... though it would be nice and would mean people didn't have to take vacation days. ------------ DEPARTURE You pay for any photo negative digitization, return your locker key, and sign out... Security will check your bags when you leave. STAFF Employees are very nice. Some have served in the military and are pretty knowledgeable about stuff I don't know. And when one of them doesn't know something, that person will call someone who does. Tim and Eric(sp?) and... Kevin(???) were especially helpful today. Perhaps I'll get to know other names next time and I'll correct those listed here. Good work, all!

I used to live here and I'll tell you first hand it sucks. When in the presence of the general…read morepublic correctional officers "play the part" but being here only for 2 yrs this place is extremely unprofessional and if you are having a possible case coming up or if you know anyone who is in the system make sure not to go here. The only reason it is clean is because inmates keep it that way and get paid to love and work there which adds up to about $10 a month just to buy toiletries and hygiene necessities and maybe some ramen noodles if your lucky all in all I rate this institution a 4-10 it has it's okay times and there are places that are way worse but NGL it's prison most likely suck tbh Let us not forget about what happened with Chester Weger

If I could give it zero I would. There is literally no healthcare right for inmates, my father has…read morechest pain and was constantly sick and they do not care, they do not care for them. No AC in summer is hot and humid. Constantly in lockdown. Does someone know the process to transfer an inmate to another facility ?