Mansfield Public Library — Attraction in Mansfield

They have many activities for kids, from story time to kite flying, and coloring, it’s all fun for them kids but if you have toddlers those who still explore the toys or things by putting in their mouth I’d be very careful. I doubt they clean the toys, I had my daughter sick several times and this was the only place I’d take her, but as she got older I started taking her to the park instead and she is not sick as often. Although, they do have a variety of books to choose from, my daughter loves books so we only go to this library to check them out (we stay away from the toys now) I also tried coming here to catch up in my online classes in a “quiet environment “ without my daughter, but it’s not so quiet, as some kids get loud here and there or get loose, I’d say big distraction if u get easily distracted. So, not the best place to study or get a peaceful break from your kids lol. Four stars because we love the books we find, staff are friendly, parking lot is nice and plenty for everyone, they have restrooms available, and even though it may not be the most clean and sanitized children’s area they do keep it organized and clear of all the food/drinks/ trash that careless ppl...

I love the library for the kids play area, but I’ve noticed that when I bring my toddler here she always get sick. This is the 3rd time she has been sick just 2 days after being at the library. I realize she could be picking something up else where, it’s just too many coincidences for me to accept that. I even stopped taking her to this library for a long time after the first 2 times she got sick after being there. I told myself “she’ll be fine, it’s not the library”. And then I took her in on Wednesday and she played in the play room, 2 days later she got a fever and HFMD/or tonsillitis. Aside from that, I also don’t like how they limit the amount of children that can join story time. I guess it’s a popular place for story time, because lots of moms get there early and they can out a certain number of “tickets” and that’s all that is allowed in the room at a time. We showed up right as it was about to start and it was already full. So I let my kiddos play with the toys and boom, they’re sick. So I’m guessing it’s the play area/toys that need to be cleaned a lot more regularly. Kids get sick a lot, it happens, it I won’t be taking my toddler and baby...

My only real complaint is that it feels small. I know that’s only reflective of the size of the city itself though. Conversely, for being such a small (comparatively) city this library sure does put on a lot of quality programming and services and the library doesn’t appear to shy away from experimenting with new programs to see if it works. You should definitely check out several of the digital resources the library has online. You can tell they’ve really invested in those. They also have ample amount of comfortable secluded seatings space, probably 80% of which have dedicated power outlets for patron use.

Oh also, it’d be nice to see the conservation and water management and landscaping they keep pushing during their programs reflected in their lawn architecture here. It’s kind of just a mud pie out front and doesn’t appear much thought went into the landscape architecture, with no hard scaping that I could see, a bunch of sod, with a few trees and bushes scattered. Irrigation, water conservation, heat and drought tolerant perennials, and aesthetics all seem to have been put to the wayside. Not...