Burien Library — Attraction in Burien

Love it Always friendly staff, from the librarians to the security staff at the entrance usually I have a great experience with the people who work there.

Printing here is a huuuuge perk for me, with the weekly allowance you get to use toward your print job (or copy/fax job) making it easier to print for freeeeeee (or if it doesn’t cover the whole cost then at least paying less which is always nice!) it’s easy to do and you can print out your stuff from a variety of ways, from your phone on the go, from the library computers available for the public to reserve and use, to emailing it or usb drives idk it’s like they make it super simple and easy to do no matter where you are trying to print from.

The bathroom stall doors ARE TOO DANG SHORT and I’m just over 5ft tall so that’s really saying something haha At least the bathrooms are actually kept decently clean, and I appreciate that in any public restroom space haha

Lots of great resources more people should look into, the libraries we have in this area have so much more to offer than free Wi-Fi and books and public restrooms with the stall doors shorter than me(jokes hehe😂💁‍♀️) and I think it’s worth the time to peruse it and get a feel for what it brings to the community and how it works to create community and community experiences too. High five burien library. I appreciate you :)

Ps. Don’t even start with the whole “the tents and homeless surround the library now is horrendous omg what a sketchy area, how could they let that happen” blah blah blah. That type of thinking first is like SUPER sad if your first thought isn’t something that even slightly resembles empathy or even just an understanding of how that has nothing to do with the library being a bad location or reflect on the institution at all— it’s a great library, yes surrounded by growing numbers of people who have to live in tents on the streets, etc, but like, that’s a whole different discussion (not to mention google review lol) about a totally different thing that is a core issue/to blame for the situation like this one. Also not to mention, sometimes the people that are out there and setting up tents are doing so BECAUSE of how they realized that they had nowhere to go and that hey there’s a public space that provides restrooms and warmth (or the opposite in hotter temperatures) and places to exist other than the streets and sidewalks etc etc. Plus there’s Wi-Fi and free to use computers that anyone could use to access opportunities to find resources to get their situation to a better place ya know?

Long story short, it’s a good library in a fantastic central downtown burien location with lots to offer in and around the library and it’s surrounding...

Well the reason I am not giving the library stars even though it is very pretty is because of what I have seen and smelled at the library. A ton of homeless people hang out at this library and way too often it smells like pee. Also I was setting at the computers down on the first floor and I look over and low and behold, there is a man watching porn on the computer with a young little boy sitting at the computer next to him!!! When I brought it to the librarians attention she asked me if I would like a private room. I could not believe it!!! I took a picture of the guy showing that he was sitting next to a young boy. I have to also add that this library does not have the Dvorak keyboard I use. I am one sided and need it to key... so NOT HANDICAP FRIENDLY. To be honest I think that the people who are putting reviews are not necessary people who live here. If you go to the Burien neighborhood blog you would see all the complaints about the library and how people feel unsafe and won't even take their children to the library. As well as how there is drug activating at the library. The only reason I go there is to print things out. If I did not need to use the printer I would never go there! That is the...

Used to love this library and spend a lot of time there studying. It is beautiful with views and quite large. Now however, I dread having to go there just to use the printer. The library smells like pee among other things and is FULL of homeless people. *insert the library's copy and pasted response below about how every public space is trying to cater to the homeless.... there are shelters specifically for that... if you want to cater to the homeless then run a shelter (or a safe injection site.. same thing) and not a library. I used to love the quiet rooms but they are not quiet when you have 4 snoring homeless people in there stinking up the place with their shoes off and feet all over the tables...... The bathroom stalls are interesting because you can make eye contact with people while you're using the toilet, thought I was in the kids bathroom, not sure what's up with that.

This library is down the drain period. Send the homeless to the shelters or become a shelter. The rest of us do not enjoy that. If I could give negative...