Hyde Park Branch Library — Attraction in Cincinnati

I’m an international student at UC, and I’ve heard many good things about Hyde Park. So I scheduled a visit to check out an apartment near the library, and since I arrived early, I sat inside the library with my child.

Previously, I explored the Clifton Library—where the librarians were incredibly kind, helping me find schools and learning resources for my child and me. I also visited the Walnut Hills Library, where the librarian chatted with my child and took the time to connect with parents.

But when I came to this library in Hyde Park, the atmosphere felt very different—just… different. I felt out of place, like I didn’t belong. I wasn’t dressed up, no makeup, didn’t even comb my kid’s hair properly. When my child curiously reached for a soft, purple squishy toy near the librarian, the librarian quickly snatched it away with a glance that said, “You’d better not steal that.”

God. Just because we weren’t well-dressed, we looked like thieves? Apparently, next time if anyone wants to come here, you’d better wear formal clothes, put on perfect makeup, and make yourself look like some so-called elite—even if you’re dirt poor 🤣. Oh, and it helps if you’re white, because most of the families here were white.

It’s not like the other libraries I’ve visited, where most patrons were Black, and people treated each other with warmth and respect. That’s exactly why, as an international student, I’ve grown to appreciate Black communities. People say those neighborhoods have high crime rates—🤣—but honestly, I’ve felt more welcome and human there.

When I toured the apartment, the agent told me, “You know, this area has the most expensive rent, and it’s the safest.” It came off as pure bragging. Let them brag. Let them be proud of having the most expensive and the safest.

As for me, I’ll go back to my neighborhood near UC. As an educated person, I don’t need expensive things to prove my worth—now or ever. Let the capitalists worship their money as much as...

One of the worst organized library locations in the Cincinnati Public Library roster. Almost everything is sorted into either Fiction or Adult Non-fiction. Cool, I'll just sort through alphabetically by author. Nope! This library has decided to have unmarked 'sections' (think travel, food, history) in the larger non-fiction section. Looking for books marked as 'check shelves' online is infuriating because of this.

This library needs to take a note from the Walnut Hills branch that has everything broken down into logical categories that make sense and are easy to decipher. Don't believe me? Go stroll through Walnut Hills after trying to hunt something down at the Hyde Park branch and you'll probably never want to go back.

It's cool they renovated the building, but I'd hoped they'd also step up their organization in the...

I love this library, I only had an issue with one staff member the other day while I was doing my RN charting. I received a teams call via my laptop and she came over and disrespectfully said "you can't have that like that." I explained to her "it was not my intentions for this call to come through like this and it was unexpected," I apologized to her but, there was no way for me to cut down the volume, even when I attempted to do so. I did not appreciate the tone she spoke to me with and I found it to be highly...