Acton Memorial Library

Acton library has a huge collection for such a small city. Quiet, beautiful space. The staff has always been pleasant to me; I’ve been to the library about 50 times. The staff has very helpful in tracking down many books for me outside of the Minuteman library network. There is a playground next to the building.

A bit hard to find at first. There seems no any sign in the main road and you have to drive a side road (Woodbury road) a bit further to find the parking lots.
It could be somewhat crowded and noisy with lots of kids running around. The staff there could be unfriendly.

Nice modern building with lots of natural light. Pleasant reading area up front for reading periodicals. Good selection of periodicals and magazines. Added bonus with Minuteman Library card more business, professional and archival periodicals for research. Cons, compared to other area libraries very limited on community events and programs. Old movie night doesn’t quite do it for me.

Pretty nice place. It has a nice spacious feeling inside and pretty peacefulll. I wish they would turn the heat off in the late spring through early fall. It is like an oven.

Spacious library with plenty of seating. It’s quiet and the internet works fast. That’s all I need when I go into a café or library and need to get work done on my laptop. The fines for overdue books are very modest, unlike the library of my alma matter.
I like that there is abundant outdoor lighting, on all four walls. There are even some couches for me to take a nap on if I’m tired.
There is a kids section downstairs too and a playground outside.
The parking lot gets very crowded usually so just keep that in mind.
Oh, there is a civil war museum section on the second floor. I don’t know how popular that is but if you need a break from reading check it out.

Plenty of Space. Well organized with periodicals reference fiction biographies and audio video. There are quiet places along the windows and walls. Children’s room is clean and beautiful. A pleasant place to read or study.

Location: Pretty easy to get to and the property is newer and nicer.
Parking: Not so plentiful and you have to share it with the Town Hall the closer you get to the door. Often we’ve grabbed one of the last two spaces.
Materials: Seems to have your basic variety and may be current on what’s available, but few in stock compared to other libraries we’ve visited. While part of the Minuteman network, you can request materials sent to this (or any) location from all the others within the network. If you can be patient, wait for them to come in, this shouldn’t be an issue.
Staff: This is why we’re giving them 2 stars (actually, they in particular should get a single star, but the review is for the business as a whole). For a town that prides themselves on being the «best», their neighborhood library is not one of them. A few words that come to mind — rude, inpatient, incompetent — and that’s just the first three. Maybe they’re tired or overwhelmed with personal issues. We don’t know and shouldn’t have to care. Unfortunately, it’s not just one rotten apple either. We’ve had the same unpleasant experiences several times in a row with different clerks. If you haven’t any questions and can deal with being treated like you’re inferior and in the way, just endure the two minutes it takes to check out.
The snobbery and unwillingness to provide basic «customer service» makes us not want to return. However, since we have made them simply a «hub» for material pickups now, we deal with them on the rarest of occasions by choice since they are the closest location.
Also, couldn’t hurt if you swapped the jeans and tee for nicer more suburban attire. After all, this IS Acton, the 16^th best small town is America. Dress for it, people!