Carnegie Library

It’s worth a trip up mountainous Herne Hill Road to catch a glimpse of this lovely old building. I recently moved to the area and joined up — it’s part of the Lambeth group which also include Brixton and Clapham libraries — finding there to be a fairly small but surprisingly eclectic and nicely presented selection of books, some DVDs and lots of quiet places to sit and read/​study/​rest from the slog up the hill.
It’s probably easier for me to drop off my finished books in Brixton, and there’s definitely more to choose from at other libraries in Lambeth, but once in a while I’ll certainly be back to Carnegie.
Might take the bus though

Several years ago, Lambeth tried to close down many of its libraries, one of which being the Carnegie. Many protests and petitions later, it remains an operational library.
The building is perhaps more impressive than the books it houses. This imposing, grand early Edwardian building rather stands out in this heavily residential area of Herne Hill.
Despite living practically next door, I very rarely actually use the library. The selection of books is not the largest but they still have a reasonable range, while the books that they do not have can be ordered in.
They do however, have a really good children’s room with books for all ages.
I do feel rather connected to the library in some way. It is not fantastic but quite a significant part of the community.