Georgetown Public Library

Noisy.
Lovely library with many programs and beautiful local art. But as previous reviewers have mentioned, the level of noise is NOT appropriate. This goes for both the downstairs and upstairs. I’ve never heard librarians so loud in my life! Talking loudly on the phone, to each other, and to patrons.
It also seems that no one bothers to turn their phones off or to silent. As a graduate student, I have been here on several occasions looking for a quiet spot to study, and have ended up having to leave each time. I’ve really given this place a chance — waiting for chatty people to leave, earbuds, earplugs, etc. Extremely frustrating. While study rooms are available, there are only 2 or 3 rooms, and you must reserve them in advance.

We went today and donated 5 bags of books to their «Friends of the Library Bookstore». This bookstore is located upstairs. Always a good selection to choose from and the bookstore is run by friendly folks. Go by & donate some nice no longer needed books. Also take some empty plastic bags to donate. Good to be able to get a bag to tote all of your new found books home. This January they are having a buy ONE book, get TWO free sale. Hey, you can’t beat that! It’s a great deal for all of us fellow bookworms.

To call this a library is to change the definition of libraries, which are QUIET places to check out books and study in. I gave two stars because they have excellent facilities if they want this to be a community center. It is a de facto community center. I hear children screaming even though I am currently writing this from the second floor exhibit area. That’s fine, but where can I go to find quiet in this culture besides my own home? I go to fast food restaurants which are cheap and have wifi, but I have a time limit and some loud person or their kids usually come in. I could go to a park, but the weather’s not always conducive to studying and, yes, also with the screaming kids depending on time of day and particular park. I’ll be glad to take suggestions. I know free ebooks are killing the libraries, but do we have to go to extremes to keep attendance up? I also want to know WHY the kids are screaming?

My only complaint about this library is the noise. I though libraries suppose to be really quiet. I started coming here because I needed a quiet place to study.
I love the access to study rooms and the book selection. the people I have dealt with in the library are VERY nice and helpful. The wifi is really good too.

This place has tons of nooks for studying. Everything is neat and I don’t have any trouble finding the books I want. There are also great programs available for children and adults alike! There are even a couple for college and high school-​aged people. The library is located very close to the restaurants downtown. The Red Poppy Coffeehouse has good food, but they tend to be a bit pricey for the level of effort put into it ($ 7 for a simple sandwich!) so I recommend either bringing your own food or exploring the Square for a suitable eating spot. The only complaint I have is the volume of noise. Of course, kids will be kids, but it gets annoying when they start shouting and running around. Library could do a better job of asking parents to quiet their children.

My beef is with the Poppy Café
on a recent visit with small child, we used the poppy café for lunch, and that is my big issue right there. I had read about the automatic credit card systems that give you a choice of 15%, 20% or 30% tip, or NONE, but had never seen these bad boys getting lousy reviews everywhere else that introduced them !!
Now normally I tip, and I tip generously, and I was so dumbfounded to find this in a library, that I felt compelled to give a 15% tip, for an almost serve yourself, pretty basic set of drinks and sandwiches.
From now on, I will either go elsewhere or not tip. These are a terrible insult and imposition on customers. Get rid of it now.

My mom lives in Georgetown and she suggested we go here with our twin four-​year-​old boys! This is the cutest little library ever. There’s a café next-​door. There’s a really great sculpture made out of toys out front. There is a giant kids section that has lots of great books, audio books, movies, even some computers for kids to use, some play toys and even a real jeep they can climb in. We were especially excited today to see that on Saturdays from 12 to 2 PM you can read to a puppy. My kids did really great and I think it takes the stress off of them instead of having a parent hovering over. We will definitely be back every time we’re in town!

I an beyond confused as to why this library has such negative reviews. My wife and I have been taking our 4 year old here since she was one. She loves it and so do we. The library is beautiful, the staff are fantastic and I can’t tell you how much our daughter has learned from all the books she has read. To any family with young children, make sure to visit!!, We travel from Cedar Park to get there, and feel that if we lived in Georgetown it would be our second home. Thank you to all involved in making this library so amazing. Please ignore these rude people who have no appreciation for all the fantastic work you do!

I really wanted to like this library. I went often, it is beautiful, has a coffee shop, and was so thrilled to go to this library. After a short time it was pointed out thst I can drop off books at a drive through they have on the side of the building. YEAH! So I thought. Immediately, there was a couple books not taken off my account. I then took in the rest of my books to clear the account. Three more books were not turned in. When I called I got a RUDE librarian. She refused to look for the books that had just been returned within the hour. Said that they would note my account but after 30 days they would have to «speak to me about other options» All ready not giving me the benefit of the doubt. The call ended poorly. The next day I called and the next person said that she did not know why my account was noted the way it was because I now could not take out ANY books. She said she would fix it and then within two hours they found all my books THEY DID NOT CHECK IN. Today, I go to check on my reserved books and they are ALL TAKEN OFF MY ACCOUNT. I am furious that THEY did not check in my books, the librarian was rude, and then my account was messed with because she had a petty vendetta. I am so tired of dealing with laziness. Bottom line… I did nothing wrong and had to spend my time dealing with this nonsense.

I love libraries, I always have. This one is beautiful, has tons of books, features local artwork, has a cool little bistro/​café and even has live music from time to time. The folks who work there are nice and helpful. My biggest complaint with this place is that no one seems to care about the noise levels! If you are a student trying to study, or like me, a person trying to find a nice QUIET place to read, check email or do research… look elsewhere! When I was a kid, they would kick you out for running, screaming or playing in the local library. Getting access to a computer is not easy. There is either a wait, or you have to get on one that is sticky, missing headphones, missing a chair (because some people have to sit 2 – 3 at one computer and play video games) or just runs too slowly. Even though there are signs stating to turn off cell phones, and take calls out side… NO ONE does this, and NO ONE enforces this, at all! There are always young and unsupervised children PLAYING on the computers. This is annoying and obnoxious to those who need access to the computers for business or scholastic purposes. If you have a tablet or laptop, use the wifi, its faster than the pc’s and it’s free!
The Café is really cool, and has delicious desserts. Staff there is also friendly.