Murray City Library — Attraction in Murray

The great I like that the Murray City keeps their library modern & has a good selection for a single branch library system. Awesome annual art exhibitions that highlight local artists. Always have nice furniture and computers (something I enjoyed years ago before we had home internet). The stained glass art display in the back is awesome. The recent little canvas paintings by kids were great. It’s fantastic how talented some of these kids are. It’s absolutely astonishing how much detail some can fit on a 3x5 canvas. Lots of parking.

The good they seem to have lots of events. Mostly kid themed. Wish they had fun adult events like fitness perhaps dance lessons, pilates or yoga. A engineering class with a 3-d printer could be cool. Also a astronomy club. With the big parking lot a astronomy club and perhaps a library owned telescope could be awesome.

The bad Until a couple years ago I was a very bashful and soft spoken person. I would stutter or talk really quietly to the librarians here. They would make fun of me. Also they’re not very communicative. Not sure if it’s just with me or if they’re aloof with everyone. The librarians at another library I frequent are chatty. Which I quite enjoy.

The ugly the men’s bathroom soap dispenser lever needs to be replaced or cleaned has had human manure on it for a years. If they had paper towels in bathroom I’d clean it off myself. Sometimes the sinks look like they were used for a bath or worse. The place can get really busy with raucous teens from the adjacent school. For adults that like a quiet library best to go before school gets out or after...

All of the technology of the new self checkout stations frees up the already-helpful library staff to be even more helpful which is nice. It also makes checkout really quick and easy as long as there aren't people in line who don't know how to use the stations (which is totally fair and understandable).

The Murray library is a stand alone- not part of the county system, which is ok, but it means that I have to carry a third library card in my wallet along with my city and county cards. Any resident of Utah can get a card at the Murray library which is nice.

Among the positives here are the movie selection, the wifi, and allowing food inside. However, the reading selection isn't quite as impressive relatively, and there aren't very many seating options for sitting and working while using said wifi. For some reason, most of the chairs are set up in a large circle facing each other (or in smaller groups all facing each other). I would rather have more personal work spaces where I can sit in privacy and try to avoid the loud groups of children that often make their presence known running around...

I like the library but about half of the staff here act annoyed every time I approach the counter with simple questions and requests. It’s like they’re bothered by having to interact with library patrons. They have been very short with me, and have had a negative tone and an “I’m too good to be interacting with you” type of attitude. I’ve had one ignore my simple request and try and argue with me about it. It’s really poor customer service here. When the scanner was broken they didn’t put up a sign saying out of order. They knew it was broken, saw me trying it, didn’t warn me, when I asked for help with it they told me it was broken and still didn’t put a sign up. The overall feeling I get from most of the staff here is that they can’t be bothered and aren’t familiar with the idea of customer service, despite it being part of their job. It’s really disappointing. Mostly I see them talking to each other and acting totally annoyed if they have to entertain the thought of doing anything else. It’s really uncomfortable interacting with them. I wish my tax dollars and donations went to hiring...