Johnson Public Library — Attraction in Hackensack

Happy 2025! As a mom, I deeply appreciate the Johnson Library and its wonderful children’s department. The story times, play areas, toys, and books have brought so much joy and growth to my baby. Special thanks to Ms. Mari and the team for all their efforts—it’s truly a fantastic place for families. If I could give 100 stars, I absolutely would.

That being said, I want to share a challenging and emotional moment I experienced today. During the Noon Year Party, I urgently needed to use the restroom. Normally, I always make sure to take my baby with me or plan ahead to avoid inconveniencing anyone, but this time, I had no choice but to ask for help. I approached a staff member who wasn’t actively engaged at the moment and kindly asked if she could watch my baby for less than a minute. Unfortunately, she refused and told me, “I’m not from the children’s department—you should ask Ms. Mari.” The room was packed with over 100 people, and finding Ms. Mari in that situation was impossible for me. Feeling desperate and helpless, I even asked other parents for assistance, but they understandably declined.

That moment left me feeling completely lost and overwhelmed. As a mom, I don’t make such requests lightly—it was only because I genuinely had no other option.

I’m sharing this experience not to criticize but to highlight the importance of offering a little extra support and flexibility for caregivers in emergencies. Small acts of understanding can make such a difference, especially in a family-friendly space like the library. Wishing everyone a happy and...

I love this library! It's so beautiful, worth a look if you've never seen it, it's an old building, but kept up nicely. I almost felt that I was walking into an old church.

It's a real dichotomy, though, because the old building has a lot of modern stuff going on inside. I recently attended a two-part workshop entitled: Sell it Online! This course was conducted live, as in we listed items to sell on Amazon and eBay in the first session, then "shipped" the sold items in the 2nd session. I got the basics of eBay, Paypal, and Amazon discussed from the seller's perspective. One person got up and showed everyone, step by step, what happens before and after a buyer clicks "buy", from listing vocabulary to measuring the packages for shipping to buying and printing postage online.

When I tried this at home, I had excellent results. I'm recently retired and I noticed that the library has a lot going on and if they are of the quality of this class, I have to highly recommend trying out an event. I have to laugh because I tell my friends "It's not your mother's library!" I hope they have this workshop again because I want to refresh my memory and I think there will be more information retained because it kind of went quickly.

There was a bit of a problem with parking, the flyer said there's a metered parking lot on Camden and State, but I couldn't find it the first...

Incompetent, unhelpful, unfriendly, inadequately old incapable staff. I've lived in Hackensack for over 8 years paying taxes like everyone else, part of the taxes I paid went to that city. I've never needed to use the library. Today I went there because I needed complete an algebra test for college using internet. I showed my ID to an old spanish guy in the reception desk who was playing some kind of stupid vide game and talking at the phone all the time. He gave me a pin # to enter a computer. When I logged in, the system showed a clock in which I could read the 15 minutes I was allowed to use the computer. I went back to the desk and explain the situation and my need of more time to the inept, useless guy sited there who acted like he didn't understand my request, asked me where I actually live and requested me a library card from my city. The next time I'll go to the Hackensack library, I'll take a picture of he and I'll publish it here, I'll send it to the library director, and the city council. Why taxpayers have to pay the salary of inefficient people, when there are too many young skilled people waiting for the opportunity...