Public Library of Cincinnati & Hamilton County: Northside

Granted, a good portion of the reason I love this library so much is it’s convenient location to my apartment (I’m right around the corner). That being said, it’s still a pretty nice little library.
The building itself is very old and still lists the branch as Cumminsville though it has since been renamed the Northside branch. It’s not very big. The whole library is only really 3 rooms all on the first floor. The downstairs houses a few meeting rooms and quiet study spots.
What I love most about all the Cincinnati Public libraries though is that it honestly doesn’t matter if their selection isn’t huge, because you can have virtually anything transferred from another branch in a few days.
The staff are all friendly and helpful. After sitting in the library for a few hours working on a project I quickly realized they have many regular customers they know by name. It makes for a very charming library experience (Because lets face it Cheers had it right… I wanna go where everybody knows my name).
The Northside branch does have a surprisingly extensive DVD collection. As a book lover this breaks my heart ever so slightly. I sort of feel like libraries are turning into Blockbusters and soon won’t have books at all. However, for those of you who dropped your Netflix accounts the library is a good (and free!) alternative.
All and all the Northside Public Library offers everything you need in a library, and being a part of Cincinnati Public Library systems means if they don’t have it they can get it from somewhere else. I am a very pleased book worm!

Tell Jordan to take a hike back to Hyde Pork. The Northside Library is great. It’s a wonderful Carnegie library, full of oak and craftsman touches. I lived next door for a few years. The staff is knowledgeable and caring. Easy parking in back.
(It looks like JC has reviewed at least 9 Cin library branches? First with the least?)

To have an idea of the age of the former Cumminsville Branch Library, now known as the Northside Branch, all you have to do is look above the doors and see that it says «PVBLIC LIBRARY — CVMMINSVILE BRANCH.» Yeah, «u’s» that look like «v’s.» Twenty-​six years after the Cumminsville Branch at Hoffner and Spring Grove Avenues (opened in 1879) closed, a new library was opened at Hamilton and Pullan in April 1908, according to its webpage. In 1999, the library temporarily closed and in September of 2000, it reopened as a renovated and remodeled library now known as the Northside Branch.
Even with the remodeling and renovation, the inside isn’t all that impressive. It is in good shape, but had I not read that it was recently remodeled I would have never really known. It isn’t extremely nice, by any means, but it is in good shape and, although relatively small, the Northside Branch does have a lot to offer. There are three square/​rectangle-​shaped rooms to go along with the main area with the checkout, filled with a lot of books, many DVDs including a «new feature films» section (not entirely new, but most within the last year or two), and there is a large kids section.
Like most of the Cincinnati Public Library branches, it does have a book drop, and it has a meeting room too that can seat 30 people. Maybe the most telling thing about the Northside Branch, though, is that they have a cop on duty at all times. There must have been some past incidents because we’ve all seen police offers at libraries before, but not full-​time like this.
Overall, I wasn’t too impressed with the Northside Branch Library, although they did have a lot in the somewhat small (definitely bigger than Clifton Branch, though) library. Although it isn’t in the best part of town and isn’t the biggest or nicest, it is a branch of the Cincinnati Public Library, so of course it is relatively good (just not great).