Hamilton East Public Library - Fishers — Attraction in Fishers

The library here is my favorite part of living in Hamilton County! It's a beautiful, comfortable, welcoming space, and the librarians & staff are awesome! I'm LGBTQIA+ and it's one of the only places I currently feel safe just being myself with some rainbow accessories when I want to wear them. I love browsing the new books section near the front doors (I now have far too many books on my to-read list...) and I've suggested books to add to the collections and have received them! I appreciate things like a plethora of types of chairs/desks to sit in (so you can find what is most comfortable for you), and that there is a foot pedal you can use to keep your body moving while sitting there and reading. There is a huge meeting room for large group events/classes, as well as small private meeting rooms that you can register for. I don't have kids but the youth/teen spaces and events seem really cool.

There's a seed library, which I think is awesome, where you can take seeds to plant at home for native plants, veggies, herbs, and flowers, as well as leave your own that you've harvested from your garden for other people to enjoy. I planted an heirloom variety of tomato this year that was really tasty!

The art studio is gorgeous, and I love the diversity of classes and workshops offered, as well as how many types of machines you can use and kits you can check out. I've learned some new crafts from classes I've attended that I really enjoy doing on my own time at home; things I wouldn't have thought that I'd like but got really into (like abstract textured embroidery). I love seeing all of the art on the walls that people have created there.

There have troubling actions of the board of directors (not the librarians) in the last few years with censorship and trying to remove books from the Teen Zone to the adults section that reference things like changes that occur with puberty, LGBTQ topics, substances, real life history where there has been violence against people, and race, from award-winning books and books that are often in middle/high school literature curriculums like "The Fault in Our Stars", "Speak", "Why?: A Conversation about Race", "Concrete Rose", "Breathless", “The Outsiders", and many others. These books contain topics that teens will face out in the world and can and should be able to learn about and discuss with their parents/guardians in age-appropriate, non-graphic, and respectful ways and in ways that are accessible to them in the section of the library meant for them, rather than finding information from dubious sources on the internet or hearsay from other kids. There was much ado from loud voices who've not read many of the hundreds of books that were targeted outside of quotes out of context; one board member at the time even said "we can't review every book" identified by the policy based on keywords.

Thankfully, this policy was removed after a highly attended public comment meeting and media attention, and books were placed back where they belonged! I have some fears that something like this will happen again, but the Hamilton County community was overwhelmingly clear in our support against that policy.

I love our library so much and am so grateful I live in a place where I have access to a space like this. I've lived in other towns where the libraries were so small, out of date, and completely underfunded, and having a library like we do is such an amazing thing for...

I was a little disappointed after my recent visit to this library. My daughter wanted to look in the teen zone and we were the only ones in there at the time. She was quietly browsing the board games and was doodling on the blank whiteboard in the back, and I sat on a chair next to her while she was drawing. We were in there for about 15-20 minutes quietly drawing, the whole time no one else entered the area, and an employee finally approached us. She was an overweight woman with brown hair in a ponytail and a gap in her front teeth, conveniently her sweater was draped over her nametag. She was immediately confrontational and demanded "Are you browsing?", I replied no I'm sitting with my daughter.

She then demands to know how old I am, and tells me that no one who is not a teenager, whether older or younger, can use any of the furniture, games, or dry erase markers. There is no sign that indicates this and I have never encountered this rule at any library before including this one. This library is taxpayer funded and not private property either, and we were not committing a crime. (Also there were no coloring sheets or crayons in the kid section, so...)

This employee was very aggressive and extremely rude in how she approached us and made a point in glaring right into my eyes even when she was not speaking to me and standing close to me as if to intimidate me. I don't break eye contact and just looked right back at her and let my daughter finish her drawing. This was very angering to me. Public libraries are one of the few remaining places where people of all ages and backgrounds can spend the day without spending money, and to be kicked out of a part of it because my daughter and I weren't in the permitted 5 year age range is ridiculous. It's also heartbreaking to me that my daughter was kicked out of this room while she was being quiet and respectful and working on something creative and artistic, as not only did I experience things like this as a child but to me this represents how frivolous societal expectations and rules impede the creativity of children in general. The employees' cars have stickers protesting banning books and the teen zone is full of novels that encourage individuality and defying oppressive social restrictions, but the employees themselves will not hesitate to impose those restrictive rules on others given the little power they have over the patrons. This woman and her giant 5000 calorie dunkin donuts drinks need to find another job...if people whose ages don't end in "teen" bother you, don't work at a place open to the general public!

Sorry for the novel, but this is a review for a library.

EDIT/UPDATE 9/22/24: My daughter and I went back to the library today and she wandered into the teen zone, stayed there for about 40 seconds before the same exact employee (whose name is apparently Mercedes, saw the gap in her teeth coming from a mile away) kicked us out again for coming too close to the whiteboard and markers despite new signage saying "welcome to the teen zone, materials are for everyone"...I guess the catch is that you don't have a chance to use them before Mercedes zooms over to stop you like the car she's named after! Fire this woman please, we are seriously considering not returning...this is the...

This library is fantastic! The only reason I'm not giving it a 5 star rating, is due to their significantly flawed study room policy. In past instances, I've gone EVERY morning for weeks on end to try and get a study room. Technically it's possible to get one, but essentially you have to lightly, yet quickly jog once they open the doors for the groups of people who are waiting outside in line. Everyone knows you have to make haste without fully running. It's honestly pathetic, but it's the way it goes since they don't have a reservation system in place like other libraries.

The first come, first serve or 'Snatch and Grab' policy risks physical injury with the manner in which they let everyone in at the time of opening as well as people getting to a room at the same time which has caused arguments to break out multiple times. One other significant pet peeve of mine is they let a single person take the larger rooms with 6 to 8 chairs. All of that extra space is not being utilized by other people who could use it for group meetings. This is almost as bad if not worse than the 'snatch and grab a study room' policy. They have small, medium, and large study rooms for a reason, but they'll allow only one person to take over the larger rooms rather than a labeled sign that says, 'At Least 3 Occupants Per Use In This Room'

I've also seen people grab study rooms, leave their bags and books to mark it as theirs, while they leave for 20 to 30 minutes to grab lunch and return later at their convenience with their fast food in hand. No one should be allowed to leave their things as a method of holding a room down if they aren't even going to be present to occupy it for the whole timeframe. The rest of us shouldn't have to be without one just because you think you're of special privilege.

Other than that, it's a great library! Clean, well kept, great selection and resources! The study room policy absolutely has to change though because I wouldn't be surprised if fights haven't broken out or will break out soon due to nature of this flawed system that is crucially needing to...