Blair Memorial Library

Absolutely love this place! Staff are incredibly knowledgeable and super friendly. Though it has a modern small town feel to it, they go above and beyond with offering kid friendly programs and provide superb library resources. My family and I go there several times a week and never leave without several staff members offering to help us (which seems like a rarity these days). I cannot tell you how many times I walk in to other local libraries to see clerks sitting behind the desk, not offering to help until you approach the desk (and even then they seem upset at the prospect of helping patrons). These employees don’t even have chairs behind the desk to sit in! Even though it would be nice if they had longer hours of operation (which is a funding issue and not by choice I am sure), It certainly seems like they try and maximize their available hours to be accessible for patrons. My family will be loyal patrons for many years to come. Outstanding work from the entire staff!

I LOVE this library! Staff is incredibly patient and helpful! Can’t count the number of hours I’ve spent in the place over the years, but it is a true gem within the City of Clawson. Staff changes haven’t impacted the quality or ambience of the place. So glad Blair Memorial Library is there to serve the community!

I have been a member of the Clawson Library for the past 30 year. I started taking my son to the library when he was 2 years old. He loved picking out books and attending the special programs designed for children. This past summer, the same son was home working on his dissertation. On an almost daily basis I was at the library picking up obscure texts from MeLCat. I have never had a bad experience at the library. The staff have ALWAYS gone out if their way to be helpful. The library is small and sometimes does not have the books I am looking for; however, they are always ready to pick up a day or two after being requested. The former head librarian gave me great reading suggestions when she saw the genre I checked out the most. Great small town library with the resources to get anything you may need from books for children to university texts.

Edit and a star removed–
This library is really starting to get on my nerves. Their hours are HORRENDOUS! The only nights they are even open until 8pm is Monday and Wednesday. They are closed Friday and Sunday. And the rest of the days of the week they are only open until 6pm. REALLY? I don’t have any clue how they ever get anyone to come in at all with hours like that. I have tried twice now to go in and pick up some books I unfortunately choose to put on hold at my own home library and pay off a small fine. But every time I go they are either locking the doors or closed already. At times that I haven’t had books on hold (and I no longer think I’ll have my books held here) I’ve gone and they were closed and ended up at other area libraries. I’m a pretty heavy library user and this is just ridiculous!
And I also tend to find the staff to be much friendlier at other area libraries. Much of the time the people working here will not even say a word to you and look at you like you’re bothering them if you dare to ask a question.
Why put money into renovating a library when clearly the money would’ve been used at finding a way to keep the library open a bit later at night so the average working person can actually make it there to check out books? Being closed on Friday is a pain but I could live with that if they stayed open later like seemingly every other area library does. I’m so frustrated!
This library recently reopened after a major renovation.
I first have to say I only moved to Clawson about 6 months ago and the library has been closed for renovation almost the entire time so I can’t even tell you what it looked like before.
I understand it’s been expanded and meeting rooms have been added however I wasn’t exactly impressed. I understand that Clawson itself is a tiny little city and it’s wonderful we even have a library here but honestly I don’t know if I’ve ever been in such a small library anywhere!
They boast having a great new children’s and young adult section… However it’s hard to even call them «sections». The whole book part of the library is one big room. The kids and YA books are off in sort of separated areas on the left side when you come in. It seemed like the fiction and non-​fiction just sort of flowed together which was sort of confusing. It’s a small enough library it shouldn’t be hard to find whatever you are looking for but things aren’t separated besides the Children and YA books.
They did seem to have a nice collection of audio books at the end of the shelves. Their movie collection is also impressive and they seem to have a TON of recent releases. Movies apart from «special interest» are a dollar a week which is sort of disappointing. One bright side is that TV seasons are FREE! I haven’t had time to browse and see what shows they have but they seemed to have quite a few and you really can’t beat FREE when most of the libraries nearby charge for TV seasons. Definitely something to check out!
Overall, I am glad to have a home library. Their selection of books, movies, and audio books really was quite current and surprising for a library so small. The building is nice and new. If you live nearby, definitely come check it out. Otherwise, stick with your local library as it’s almost certainly larger.