Brooklyn Public Library – Kings Highway Library

This is my sorta-​neighborhood library, so it’s kind of a necessary evil. I’ve been coming here for years. It’s not great.
The librarians, for the most part, are pretty unhelpful. They have a lot of attitude, like they hate their jobs and their lives. I literally just called one of them recently and she basically hung up on me because I dared to ask her to look up to see if my book was in.
There is one librarian who is very nice, but I rarely see her. There is also a technical assistant who is lovely, literally among the nicest people I’ve ever met. A few weeks ago, I had to special request something and the woman practically bit my head off. They are really nasty here.
The clientele is a lot of older people, Russians, and folks of the insane/​homeless variety (talking to themselves, etc.). At times, it feels like hanging around Penn Station or Bellevue. This is a library that tends to get its share of crazy regulars. Hang around here often enough and you may well become one of them.
One nice thing is I think you can get up to 2 hours of library time here, between the 2 sessions on the computers, and the hour long session on the laptops. (You need to special request those).
The guard also has an annoying habit of yelling that the library is closing at least a half-​hour before that happens. Yes, we know. We all saw the sign when we came in.
The bathrooms are frequently nauseating.
The book selection seems to be a lot of religious (Jewish) stuff (I’m a Jew myself, so no disrespect intended) and Russian language stuff. Their LGBT/​sexuality section is so small as to be laughable.
There is a seperate floor for a children’s section and one downstairs for magazines, an art gallery and general hanging out. The location of the library is across from the b82 and within a short walking distance from Kings Highway Q.
I wish I could say I had a better recommendation for a library in Brooklyn to go to but I don’t. My father tells me Gerritsen is nice, but I’ve never been.
This library though, Kings Highway, really needs to revamp itself, starting with politeness to customers.

The «quiet reading room» in the basement is anything but quiet. Between the noise from the passport office and the rude people who believe the library is their living room, this place is a real disgrace. To make things worse, the library staff stroll right through chatting loudly, as if they’re the only ones in the room. This place has a long way to go to bring it up to par with a real «library».

It’s not the fanciest or most polished library around but it’ll do.
+ Bookshelves are clearly marked and organized.
+ Several banks of computers for use.
+ Three staffers seated at customer service (hopefully this is a regular thing).
+ Self return and self checkout.
+ Easy access from either the train or bus.
— Could use an update.
— Dingy tile flooring.
— Limited air conditioning? It was so warm in there…

Unfortunately, I blend in with the teenagers here, so the staff feel the need to be rude and disrespectful to me. Here are a few scenarios:
1) I’m sitting at a table minding my own business, doing college work. I’m also charging my phone. The lady at a computer across from me snaps at me and tells me I can’t charge my phone here. The charging stations are only for laptops. I ask her where I can charge my phone. Her response: «Not here.» I’m not about to waste my breath on her, so I move away from her and charge my phone on a different side of the floor. I would like to see where it says that phone charging is not allowed in this library. It actually is, considering how many people charge their phones down in the basement. This brings me to my next scenario.
2) A few months later, I’m sitting on the other side, charging my phone and catching up on some reading. A man with a mustache comes up: «You’re not supposed to charge your phone here.» «Where can I charge it then?» He sends me back to the side where the woman told me I can’t charge my phone! He then proceeds to ask me who I’m here with. I tell him I’m with my elementary school brother, who is playing on the computer. His response: «You’re supposed to sit close to him and watch him.» I’m already on the same floor with him, and he knows what table I’m sitting at. He’s not a baby. Then, that man asks how old I am. I refuse to answer that question. I’m a grown woman, and my age is certainly none of his business.
3) Their new drop off system is just awful. You have to scan the books. Some of them did not scan, so I asked a staff member why they did not scan. «You’re not doing it right,» snapped the female staff member. Uhm I’m pretty sure if some of the books did go through, I WAS doing it right. So when the scanners don’t want to work, somehow it’s my fault that some books go through and some don’t. I preferred the old system, where I would just drop off the books into the box without making contact with the impolite staff.
Instead of taking out your nasty attitude on innocent people, how about you do something about the loud school kids? Because the last time I checked, this is supposed to be a LIBRARY, not a zoo.
The only reason I come here is because my little brother wants to play on the computer with his friends after school and take out some books. But if you actually have a choice, go to the Central Library, where silence is strictly enforced and the staff are nice and polite.

Very spacious with locale-​specific materials & events: heavy in children’s and young parents readings. Clean well maintained reading areas, respectable collection, and very kind staff living locally add to the ambiance. Very well run branch location.

If your looking for a quiet clean warm library this is your spot. Just get here before all of the yeshivas let out. During work hours this is the most quiet calm place to go. Avoid during after hours it turns into a zoo. Great help here too wonderful library

Awesome library/​cooling center! Really close to home and they have everything you need from a library

I fortunately live about 5mns away from it so this small but busy library does what I need it to do — print out documents and occasionally rent out DVDs when my internet is down.
There library is kept very clean and is quiet (like it’s supposed to be). There’s been never more than a 20mn wait for a computer for me and I easily waste my time by browsing through the constantly updated DVD collection.
I rarely deal with the staff but on the occasions that I have, it’s always been courteous and friendly.
I heart libraries!

just live on next block from it, it is nice place.

Great Library!
Brand new (last summer?) TONS of books, lots of ppl to help you, fast state-​of-​the-​art-​check out system, plus they have a huge Russian section (for those who care) and I assume this means other languages too.
Not that this idea will blow anyone way but… Last summer I took out a few travel book about Paris, & France, took them over seas o. O and returned them back to the library without paying a dime ! Not only do you save money, but you also can test out all the different travel guides there is before making a commitment ($$) to one!
And yes this Library has computers too. And is very very well air-​conditioned in the summer !
Plus not only is their check-​out fast, but so is their drop-​off. You could even return the books without going inside and when the library is closed (drop off boxes outside)
All in all I agree with the reviewer below me, this library is awesome !!

I feel I need to defend this library, because the other reviewer was so harsh. This library is fantastic, a lot of new titles and a big space dedicated to the retrieval of your holds if they don’t have what you need. The library is open until 8pm 3 days a week, has 2 huge book drops in case you need to return something after hours and is open on Sundays (even with all the cuts in library funding)! The bathrooms are clean and well maintained and there are a ton of computers you can use without having to wait too long. Every time I’ve gone to this library there is a really cool library cop who actually enforces the rules, so if this homeless person was suspected of doing anything more scandalous than smelling bad he should have been notified.