St. Louis County Library - Clark Family Branch — Attraction in Ladue

Children are the largest population of any library. And as such, they built a multi-million dollar complex with huge sprawling halls, massive corridors, enormous teen rooms with computers and video games and lots of work spaces, and gave the children a tiny corner room to house all their books (a HUGE collection), all their play areas, all their workstations, all their sitting and reading areas. It can't be more than 30 x 30. It's small. Because it is so small and so many children, so many activities with the kids are crammed into one corner, where they run and scream.

It is absolute Bedlam in there.

Not only can I not sit in there and not get an elbow in my face from the chaos, but the ceiling is made of tin, and the room is glassed in, creating an echo chamber that amplifies every single sound. It becomes like a concert environment, where you MUST yell to be heard, and nothing can quell the horde of toddlers. This many kids should not be in that small of a space.

They gave more space to the geneaology department...

They gave TWICE as much space to the teens, and none of their books are in there. It is mostly open work space.

And the entryway..... why is it two stories tall?

This is disgusting. I wanted to have a quiet space to read with my daughter, so we had to go out into the hall because the noise became so aggravating. I dread returning. My DAUGHTER loved the chaos... but it was too loud to work on her math... it was too loud to read...

This can be fixed. While i am disappointed they failed so astronomically, they can do a few things:

Get those books out of there. Use that big open hallway or something. We need less book cases, maybe only a single row or cross to split the room into quarters.

Install a ceiling! A tin ceiling? Really? Install one better than you would put in a gym or a slaughterhouse. Kids are loud! Have you been around kids? Jeez... you need the noise foam they use in sound studios up there. Something to not create an echo chamber. It's like being in a barn with a room full of toddlers... not ideal!

Bigger room! I can't believe in this massive complex that this tiny section was set aside for children. Go to the Daniel Boone branch. That place is great, with a big room for books and a big room for the kids, and a big workshop area for kids. It is split into multiple rooms intentionally and while it can get rowdy sometimes, it is much better. It has actual sound dampening ceiling tiles as well.

I still cannot believe that the entire second floor is NOT all for the kids and teens. They really set aside less than an eighth of the layout for kids... That boggles my mind.

The rest of the building is pretty...

But the big EMPTY ENTRYWAY IS BIGGER THAN THE ENTIRE KIDS / TEENS AREA COMBINED!

WHY DOES THE ENTRYWAY NEED TO BE TWO STORIES TALL AND BE ABSOLUTELY EMPTY AND WHY DOES IT TAKE UP HALF THE BUILDING????????

Nobody needs the entryway to be so big....

Just... fix it... Not the entryway. You know what i mean. That ship has sailed. Just fix...

I need libraries like I need air but this one stinks. We've been coming to this location for the last few months while Kirkwood's children's library is under construction. There's very minimal things for the kids to do in the "children's area" but we make it work. EVERY week when we check out our books, the system doesn't register that they were all checked out and we are beeped and stopped. Every. Single. Time. The staff is always rude about it like I was trying to sneak out with books though I have a receipt that shows I checked them all out. It's infuriating. It wouldn't be an issue if it happened once. Or if the staff treated you better about it. Today we came in as soon as it opened and they had art set out for the kids to play with. The kids were using dotting tools and were making a soft banging noise - a librarian came over and told them to stop because there were people in the library trying to concentrate. He didn't speak to me who was standing right there, he spoke to my 2 year old. There were maybe a handful of people in the library as it had JUST opened. Why have something out that makes "too much noise"? Again, if they were nice about it maybe I would feel...

How shall we describe this place… that’s easy! Heaven on earth. Let start by saying that it was totally worth waiting for the renovations to be completed. This place is much more than a library. For starters the teen section has more books than any of the other branches. Not only that but they an entire recording studio with so many different types of instruments that you need for different genres. As well as high quality headphones and computers and speakers. You’re able to spend up to 8 hours a week using it. For free. They also give you a course on how to use the equipment. And then there’s a a really nice science lab with 3D Printers as well as some other stuff. The staff are also very helpful. The library also has the cutest kids section with sound proof walls that really keeps out the noise. They also have a whole section with history, geography and genealogy stuff. Trust me when I say that this place is the best of the best!! So take my advice, and go as...