Batavia Public Library — Attraction in Batavia Township

Batavia has a public library that bests the others in neighboring towns (Geneva, St. Charles, Aurora, etc.) in being a sunny, open space with helpful staff and plenty of desks for studying. Geneva is cramped; St. Charles and Aurora are old.

Batavia has a nice tidy parking lot, is walking distance from McDonalds and Panera and Daddy-Os Diner for a quick bite to eat, it has it's own coffee shop in the lobby with small sandwiches, and has a massive ground floor dedicated to children. The windows are huge in all parts of the library, and it is clean and new. The temperature is right, and the noise is minimal. There is a reading room for magazines that has a fireplace.

As far as resources, Batavia has many volumes itself, and it's part of the system so that you can order anything your heart desires. There are CDs, DVDs, etc.

If one were to try and find fault, it would be that there are not as many study rooms as there are at some other libraries, especially for a library this new. For instance, the 95th Street Library in Naperville has a few dozen different study rooms on various levels of the library, and they are frequently used. Batavia has fewer. However, Batavia Public Library is more comfortable, the layout and the chairs, than the open and sterile 95th Street Library. The 95Th Street Library (Naperville) has as much charm as a tax office, while Batavia feels like a library---grand, and quiet, and comfortable and it even smells good.

Warning: An increasing issue is the homeless population that makes the library "home" during all open hours. Whereas other libraries have a clear policy against people sleeping--literally, sleeping for hours--in the library, Batavia allows it. There can be groups of four or five homeless people outside the library smoking (it is now a smoke-free campus, but that does not stop the outdoor smokers) and similar indoors. The homeless make themselves a mini-shelter on padded chairs, especially by the front window, and park there all day and night. It is not the proper use of this tax-payer funded building; regardless of what one thinks of the plight of those less fortunate, it is a fact that a library is a public space intended for research, study, education, and it is a family use space. It is not, by definition, a place of sleeping, toilet stall "showers", and "living" from opening at 9AM to closing at 9PM. Note again that other area libraries--Naperville 95th Street, Geneva, St Charles, Gail Bordon in Elgin, DO NOT allow homeless hibernation in the library.

Addendum: as of 2016, the homeless problem at Batavia Library has increased exponentially. The homeless now congregate in the middle of the library. They have commandeered the bathrooms. One gentleman--and you will think I'm making this up, so bizarre that it is to be permitted (but I assure you of its truth)--pulls a wagon, like one of those red wagons that we owned as a child, into the library! It houses his belongings in dirty bags. Batavia must be one of the most liberal communities I'm aware of in allowing this nonsense at their library. But, like most things in life, if you give an inch, slowly it'll cost you a foot; the library is being overrun with the homeless. Sad testament to the town. If one is a prospective new homeowner for Batavia, and they pop into the library, they'll run for any surrounding town to buy a home, and quickly. A library should be a clean, well-lighted place, a safe sanctuary for research, family activity, study, and information; it is not a homeless shelter, a community "shower", a dumping facility, a day-hotel for sleeping, a hub of homeless socialization. Who loses? The taxpayers of Batavia, and anyone trying to sell a home there. ...

This is literally my very favorite library. Firstly, it's a joy to spend time in. I love the periodicals section. It's a silent space in the corner with comfortable chairs and a great view. If they don't have what you are looking for, the staff will do everything they can to get it in for you. Secondly, their children's section, the entire lower level, is amazing. All of my children love spending time playing games, reading comics in the beanbags, exploring the little learning tables set up, and taking fun classes. The baby storytime (registration required) is a gift! The women who run it truly enjoy what they do, and it shows. My 1 year old learned to love books attending every week. They also teach baby sign language and song sings and dance and play with all the other babies....

I was raised in Batavia and my parents still live here. We came home for a family visit and I wanted to take my small children to storytime at the library. Unfortunately, you have to sign up for a four week story time program and that wouldn’t work for us only visiting for a week. I called to drop in for the day and still they wouldn’t let us. Being a military family, we have visited and enjoyed lots of libraries. This is the first one that I’ve been to operate this way. I understand having a capacity and a waiting list for programs. I just wish there was a little give- especially when there is clearly room for us to sit and listen when others didn’t show up for the four...