Saint Paul Public Library - Sun Ray — Attraction in Saint Paul

One extremely rude, power hungry staff person named Katrina (I believe is her name) ruined my experience here today. I'm only giving 2 stars because the other staff have been so far polite and kind.

In transparency, I'm a born and raised Eastsider, and I've always called STP and SPPL my home. In regards to Sunray Library, I've only been here three times in total, including today. My first two experiences of being in this space is that it is very clean, the space is quiet, the architecture and layout is nice, and the front desk and staff has been friendly, until today.

Yesterday, 6/6/2017, I had called the library in the evening and asked if we, a local High school youth group, could reserve a room for tomorrow, the 7th around 2:30, the person on the phone stated that they could not do room reservations over the phone and that we needed to submit a reservation in paper. The person on the phone then stated, "if there are rooms available, you can take them on a first come first serve basis."

Jeez this complaint is getting long but let's keep going, lol.

So we showed up today, Wednesday the 7th. Since I was the first to arrive, I went to check out the rooms. Like I said before, I've only been here 2 times before today, and so not knowing the space well, I went to check out the "Study/Reserved rooms." When I went over, "Room A" had a single person in it, a woman on a phone. So I walked past and checked out "Room B," which was empty, but stated on the door that it only had the capacity for "4 people."

Since I knew we had more than 4 people coming for our youth group meeting, I figured it wouldn't hurt to ask the woman in Room A, which could fit 6 people, if she wouldn't mind switching. I went over, lightly knocked, then very slowly opened the door. I asked politely if she wouldn't mind switching from Room A to B.

To be transparent, I had no knowledge if she reserved the room, and since she was on the phone, I was trying to be as polite as possible. She didn't seem to say anything to me besides packing her things and signaling that she would be moving rooms. It all happened so quickly and in many ways, I think this is all a misunderstanding, but with what happened next, the staff person was unnecessarily rude.

Finally getting to the main point, after we had switched rooms, we settled in to Room A, and as it turns out, there were 7 of us in the room, something I did not take into account.

As we went ahead with our meeting, a woman in her 40s with dark rimmed glasses opened our door. She made no introduction but she pointed straight to at me and said, "You in the red shirt, I need to talk to you." She led me into a quiet corner of the library...

And the conversation pretty much went like this: her tone and demeanor as if talking to a toddler versus a mid twenties adult... Staff person: "You know it's extremely rude to interrupt someone." Me: Oh I'm sorry... Staff person: "You know she had reserved that room. Did YOU reserve a room?" Me: No, but I had called yesterday and asked for a room but they told me it had to be done in paper. Staff person: condescendingly You know you can send it in? Me: genuinely (since I really don't know the procedures) Oh, like through mail or email? Staff person: (Unintelligible answer) Me: Oh... Ok. Staff person: And just so you know, you can only have six people in that room, so YOU need to figure it out. raises eyebrows (pretty much insinuating one or all of us need to leave)

With just the way she went from 0-100 in terms of attitude, in her demeanor, in her tone and aggressive posture was really startling and unprofessional. It also makes me wonder how shes treating the other staff in this library and if they have to put up with her tyrannical behavior.

In summary, could I have planned on my behalf better? Absolutely, and I take blame for that and for unintentionally bothering someone who reserved a room. But that doesn't excuse the fact that this staff person was extremely arrogant, rude, and power hungry with...

Here's what you need to know: Parking: Lot Sidewalks: Well-paved to the building and throughout the grounds Seating: Several chairs and benches in children's area Bathrooms: A family bathroom right in the children's area Separate play room: Yes, and the board books are located in this room. Just beware that there isn't a door to keep kids in, just an arch separating the room from the rest of the library. Toys: Yes (although they were all mysteriously missing when we visited)

I was hesitant about visiting Sun Ray since we stopped by a park behind the library last summer. It looked like one of those libraries that's tailored to teens and adults.

Google Reviews sounded promising, though, so we met up with some friends to see it for ourselves.

While the backside of the library isn't very appealing (at least in the colder seasons), the front is beautiful. The recent remodel included a face lift in addition to gutting the insides.

The children's section is the first section you run into once you pass the front desk. It's amply stocked with books. I was so pleased with the Easy Reader section (Madi and Titus' favorite section), which was shelved by reading level and special characters. This made finding books incredibly easy.

There are several computers available for children to use. There is also plenty of seating all throughout the children's area.

There's a house frame with fine-motor skills activities; velcro seating kids can take apart and stick back together; vet equipment; and other occupation-related toys (I would imagine, based by the marked boxes).

The toys were missing the morning we were there, but the personnel in charge said there are usually toys strewn all over the children's area.

To one side of the children's area is a room that's largely closed off. An arch separates this room from the rest of the children's area. Inside is an alphabet rug and loads of board books.

One side of the room is all windows. I imagine it's a lovely view when plants are in bloom. Comfortable bench seating lines the walls.

One of my favorite parts about checking out (and I never thought I'd ever like the check-out process) is the floor activities. Around the checkout area are these patches of (probably) colored water. Kids can step all over them and watch the water move around. It's a super simple way to keep the kids entertained while books are being scanned.

The front desk personnel wasn't particularly helpful (he had no idea where the toys were and didn't help locate them), but we did run into staff at the end of our trip who were very...

This library got me through so many hours of childhood and growing up. We went there for puppet shows and many children's story times, and I loved it.

Their children's section is great, with seating and windows so you can read with your family. I spent so many hours just browsing through and reading books there as a kid, and with the new renovations they're even better.

There are plenty of computer workstations to use if you need to work someplace.

There's a lovely windowed quiet study area so you can really focus while enjoying the atmosphere of the library.

There is an outdoor patio which is useful in the warmer months.

There's a playground just outside for kids to burn off energy after reading a while, too, which was great when I was growing up!

There is plenty of music selection and book selection too, as well as community events.

Bus lines go right nearby at the Sun Ray shopping center, where you can stop and do some errands before or after grabbing some...