Pottsville Free Public Library — Attraction in Pottsville

This review has been updated please read in full for a complete understanding!

This review was originally made in 2021! It has been updated on numerous occasions!

Rude staff, horrible training, incompetence like you never seen in your life. Printers not working correctly, Understaffed. and much more!

This is what you can expect going here. Printers have not worked correctly for so long I can't remember when they worked right and instead of getting them fixed these guys think it's best to just let it go. This facility needs to be investigated. Never seen a public library run this bad! I can understand some problems but dear lord this place has gone down the hill and its getting worse. Don't know if there's money issues with this place or something much worse. Mind boggling how a facility is run like this! Where is the pride? Your ceilings need repaired as well. At first I was understanding but now it's old and just sad! Wake up your facility is a disgrace and a insult to people who were born in Pottsville! SMH

Only saving grace is a few people and I'm sure they know who they're !. The rest should find new jobs away from the customer service field!

As of 8/29/2022 They finally fixed the printers after a very long time of them not working correctly. Now if they can work on the other stuff I described we will be golden. This place could use some renovations and upgrades as it seems to be years behind other public library's!

As of 11/12/2022 Very happy to see them repair the ceilings with a nice fresh paint job! Because they are clearly trying to do better I have decided to raise my stars. There is still 1 or 2 employees that could be more friendly and have a better personality as you should expect considering they are around people all day long when they work there!

As of 6/21/2023 I noticed they give away food. I think this is very important and should be implemented in every city and state! !. It's important to the community and it shows they are more than just a library! It shows that they care about the people! My thanks and respect to you guys for making improvements and changes!...

In the 15 years that I've lived in the Potsville area, I must say that this library continues to improve as the years go on. All of the staff are really great and the amount of books and DVDs that you could rent is fantastic. The rental period is for an entire week and you could take out at least three at a time for movies and I think that's very good compared to others in the area. The magazine and news paper variety is also very great. The back section of the first floor behind the computers is really beautiful and a great preservation of Pottsville's history. The library also offers a ton of community activities that are constantly happening throughout the year. They also do programs such as offering free lunches throughout the summer that are available for anyone to take. They even have some more unconventional things offered to rent or borrow, such as cookie cutters, board games, and tool boxes for the community. My only complaint if I had to give one would be the volume that can sometimes incur on the first floor computer room area from both the computer users, the general readers, or someone at the desk nearby. But I do recognize that the cultural nature of many libraries has changed to be, sometimes, free internet access for people. So the room at which that is offered can get a bit louder as not many people in the first floor are actually reading or studying. And the second floor of this library can be a toss up. Depending on what day or hour you're on the second floor, it could either be a really great place to study and read, or a little bit of the Wild West with sketchy people upstairs playing music and having conversations. There is no staff on the second floor so it can be a bit of the Wild West depending on the day. This library is great and it's making great efforts to stay relevant, effective and appreciated by the community. And I think they're doing a really great job. And I think all of the staff are...

I have had nothing but negative experiences at this library. One specific time, a children's book was ruined by my preschool class. I ordered a new one immediately, which meant that I paid the price of the book (understandable) and shipping cost. I informed the library of the destroyed book and that it was being replaced, and they told me I would still need to pay a $5 processing fee. I think that fee was taken care of when I ordered the book for them AND paid for shipping.

In addition, the librarians are either rude or don't speak at all, leaving you to guess whether or not it's your turn to be helped.

I will no longer go to this library, even though it is right down the street from me. It's a shame, because they have a great selection of books, but when you have yet to have one positive experience in an establishment, it's best...