Chestnut Hill Library — Attraction in Philadelphia

This library is very cute and well maintained, but I implore the staff to please update the Free Library website and CH library socials to reflect closures. They have unrelenting and uncommunicated closures due to staffing shortages. There have been at least five days this year alone that I’ve visited only to be turned away at the door. On those days, there’s usually a steady stream of people showing up to use the space or attend events, totally unaware it’s closed.

I drive about 15 minutes to get here, and lately I’ve started skipping the trip because I’m worried it’ll be closed when I arrive. And I'm in the habit of checking the Free Library website as well as individual library's socials before I go to any city library, because I know this is a problem with our (sadly) underfunded library system! I’m sure many other patrons have also started avoiding CH for this reason.

Also, I’ve struggled with how short/lacking in social skills the librarians can be at times. I witnessed a pretty unempathetic interaction between a librarian and a young mom in the event space a few months ago on one of the days that the main building was closed, and it left me feeling a little uncomfortable. I really want to love this place, but the lack of communication and staff do not make it feel like a reliable and...

Was at the Monday 1 - 5pm book sale. All of the volunteers were very nice. However, the one lady, heavy set with glasses and frazzled gray hair decided to arbitrarily overcharge me for .50 paperbacks saying they were $2 each. Not sure if she does this to people and pockets the extra cash or what her deal was. While this is a minor amount and I let it go I don't like dishonest people. I've been to numerous libraries where I've bought books over the years and never encountered someone arbitrarily making up their own prices when prices are cleared displayed. I bought 67 books yesterday and was planning on going again before that happened. But no thank you. Please don't...

I came here to print out some papers on their computers. The one concierge wasn't very friendly. It is as if she is only there because she has to be. The computer system is rather odd too. You have to make a reservation on the one computer using your library card, and then it prints out a piece of paper telling you what computer to go to, and the password for it. It would be more convenient to just be able to walk up to any of the computers and use your library card and enter the pin that you assign to your card. It also costs 25 cents per page to...