Minneapolis Central Library — Attraction in Minneapolis

This library was a life saver for me...I know there are a few reviews that mention homeless issues... however have being homeless myself at one time I could never criticize the homeless at a library. It may be shelter to some and a place to stay warm....but for me it was way more than that. The staff was amazing with helping me get back on my feet...they gave me all the information I needed as well as making me feel welcome and not so alone during a horrible time in my life. People in Minnesota tend to stereotype the homeless way too much...no one knows anyone's story unless you ask. It's a gift to be able to sit in a warm quiet space and read a book or use a computer especially when one day you don't have that gift in a home of your own. As the old saying goes don't know what you got til it's gone. This library helped me get my life back and for that I will be forever grateful. When it's a billion below 0 in MN and you have nowhere to go...the Library was a place you could go no matter who you were and I can only imagine how many lives that library has saved without even knowing it. Yes there were issues with some people but that's in any place or with any people...not just homeless people. I'd like to give a special shout-out to Kate Coleman...an amazing, caring hard working woman who in my mind deserves some kind of award for the job she does at the library...she does what she says she will with a caring heart and a warm smile...she's my personal hero!💯 Absolutely I give Hennepin library 5 stars...anyday!!! Thank you...to all of you who make that library...

I would not recommend the Central Library to anyone as a place for studying or working. Even though the building is well-designed, with beautiful, light-filled interiors, it is not a safe place based on my experience.

Once, I was verbally threatened by a person sitting at the computer next to mine just because I asked her to lower the volume of the radio she was listening to. My request was in line with the Library's rules, and I addressed her as kindly and politely as I could. I must confess that her threats scared me.

Another time, my niece left her smartphone in the bathroom for just a few minutes, and it was gone when she returned.

Last week, I locked my bike on a rack outside the main entrance on Nicollet Mall. When I left the Library three hours later, my bike was gone—it had been stolen. I asked both the Library and the police to review the security footage, but to no avail. (It seems to me that the area in front of the Library's entrance has become less secure since Dunn Brothers Coffee closed.)

These are just a few examples of my negative experiences at the Central Library. I have stopped...

Its a beautiful library that instead of promoting a safe/clean/quiet place to read or study is now refugee to hundreds of unhoused on any given day. The odor, commotion, and constant movement of security guards gives the environment a chaotic and attacking environment unlike any library I’ve been to in the world. Even compared to American cities… it is quite an embarrassment. The tables and study areas are unkempt, dirty, with odors unknown to the average person. There is visible drug use, mental health breaks, and pungent odors abound. No cities in the world would allow such a scene unless in an active war zone or emergency crisis. There are so many resources and plenty of support for the unhoused (the twin cities per capita is one of the most generous) and yet scenes like this once great and welcoming public library is a sad reminder of failed public policy and a hesitant and crippled state/local government which would rather avoid any sort of pr situation than uphold a standard a library...