Cardiff Central Library

I am super attracted to Cardiff Central Library; it’s a beautiful building in the heart of the city centre and today I finally managed to pay a visit!
~ Atmosphere:
It speaks for itself as the building is just as beautiful on the inside as it is on the outside. It has 6 floors with plenty of help desks (as needed due to how popular this place is), there’s also plenty of facilities including computers, iPads, and printing. Although there’s loads of people visiting, due to its largeness and design, you never feel overwhelmed!
~ Service:
The librarians here are very friendly and helpful with any questions you may have. From my experience, the queues don’t seem too long either to ask for help.
~ Variety:
The main reason why this place doesn’t get 5 stars from me. I went to the non-​fiction science section to find some useful books and although I’m sure their fiction collection is quite nice, their science section is horribly lacking. A good 99% of their science non-​fiction section can’t even be used for factual research, but more historical texts (such as history of _​_​_​_​_​). The virology section isn’t really virology and more along the lines of «living with _​_​_​_​disease».
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Basically, the facilities here are great and I’m sure there’s a great collection of fiction books. However, if you’re looking to do some studying or research here, I wouldn’t bother.

The entrance itself though glass revolving doors maintains the heating of the building although it must be said that the doors revolve so slowly that one is tempted to give them some assistance and it is apparent that some people have been tempted to do this as there is a large notice warning about pushing the doors. The entrance hall itself is like the foyer of a first class hotel with an enquiry desk. The layout containing the books has obviously been carefully designed and there are no shelves above shoulder height. The music scores used to be bound in a sober dark brown colour .They have all been rebound in bright colours the colour reflecting the contents of the music score Choral works, Chamber music Solo instruments etc so one can see at a glance the section you require. There are many other improvements. Such as computers throughout the building there is even a small grand piano that one can play using earphones so that the sound does not disturb other users. Although I have to say that the gentleman playing the instrument while I was there was beating time so loudly with his foot, although I could hear no music, that I had to move some distance away so as not to be disturbed. All in all this is a first class library which is an asset to the capitol city

I paid the library a visit recently as I had to use their printer after a small technical malfunction with my own.
The first thing that hits you is how aestetically stunning the building itself is. It’s magnificent, so much better than the previous library and one of my favourite building to come out of this new, revamped Cardiff development.
Signing up was quick and painless, with a little info booklet on the various services the library has to offer. It’s got, I think 4 floors with, obviously books, DVD and CD rentals, audiobooks and they also hold classes here such as creative writing classes and the like.
They’ve got computers and you can use them 20 hours a month free of charge. You can use the printer for 20p per sheet of paper.
It’s an awesome building overlooking the Hayes area and it’s a fantastic centrepiece on probably the most modern area of Cardiff.

I love this new building in the centre of Cardiff. It is so swish that they made sure that the noise the doors make as you enter is a swishing sound. It seemingly has an infinite number of floors, but this is partly because I’ve never got higher than the second due to becoming distracted by all of the exciting things around the place.
Obviously they have a lot of books, and this is their main selling point. Their range of books is impressive from fiction to non-​fiction to biography to graphic novels to children’s books. They also have a large range of DVDs, CDs, music scripts and ebook accessing areas. They have dedicated areas to watching any DVDs you might want to watch and listen to any CDs you might want to listen to. The general feel of the place is very modern and open plan. Moving away from boxed-​in corridors of books (which I, personally, also love!) they have favoured a very open and accessible feel to this library. There’s even pianos. Massive, white, grand pianos. I rest my case.

I’d been waiting a long time to get into this building. I’d been watching it taking shape for months and it looked intriguing. When the wraps finally came off I was amazed. Who had the idea to house a library in an «olympic» venue. It looks like a swimming pool. Quite bizarre but beautiful. I’m a big fan of the central library and like most people in Cardiff have felt a bit short changed by not having a proper library to call our own after the closing of the original central library many years ago.
Anyway the library is a really well thought out building. It’s very easy on the eye has computers and gadgets galore but sadly not that many books.
The kids section is excellent and my two neices loved the chairs.
I loved the self service book return and booking out system.
But although there’s lots of computers i couldn’t actually access any of them during my visit, so I couldn’t work out where anything was. So lots of fruitless schlepping up and down the stairs.
But it does have drinks machines and toilets on every floor.

As libraries go, this has to be one of the best. In the central Hayes area stand this magnificent library overlooking that weird circle and pole thing. This place is magnificent, the large area contains books as you can imagine and so much more. There are many computers that are often busy and you may have to wait sometimes up to an hour for them to be free. They have express computers where people can’t stay on them for more than 20 minutes I believe so you can always use those.
There are large glass walled windows that let the light fill the library so that you can actually see your book to read it. I am often tempted to drag my laptop to this library and just sit in the peaceful atmosphere whilst I work, but have yet to drag my lazy bottom down there to do so.
Taking out books is state of the art, no librarians needed, you just scan your book in this fancy machine and off you go.
Other libraries should really take a few tips from this one, it truly is fantastic.

Cardiff used to have an older library that wasn’t the greatest of places to go to. But since the arrival of the new St David’s shopping centre it brought along a brand new and exciting Library. Located in the Hayes Cardiff Central Library has everything that the old library didn’t. It’s filled with books, working spaces, computers and staff to help you with anything you ask.
The look of this building is inspiring. This makes you feel inspired once you’re in there ready to work. The library was extremely helpful to me when I moved to Cardiff because I didn’t have Internet access for a month. Luckily you could use the computers they have located on a number of floors with Internet access. All you need is a library card, which is very easy to obtain on the ground floor if you speak to the receptionists. As well as books and Internet access, the Library has an addition on one of the floors where you can seek careers advice. They will help you set up your C. V and look for local jobs in the St David’s shopping centre. There are plenty of workspaces for everybody. You can sit on a chair with a table attachment looking out at the window. Now that’s inspiration!
Cardiff Central Library is just what Cardiff needs. It’s an inspiring working place with plenty of facilities to help you. You must visit there!

Once upon a time there was a young woman who spent her days looking down on the world. She’d see handsome princes, glance upon the odd duke and imagine galloping off towards the castle.
OK, in this modern world not everything can be like a storybook. This young woman is yet to be carried off by a prince. Adding to this, the only duke she can see is decidedly textual, confined within the sign of The Duke of Wellington pub. The castle is across the other side of town, her horse has been sent to the glue factory and her bank balance is telling her to save touristy day-​trips for another day.
And so our young heroine must take her mind off the storybooks.
Luckily for her, this seems to be quite the trend in Cardiff at the moment. Our library, large though it may be, doesn’t seem to have much space for books. Gone are the days where great novels would tower in piles above your head, their intimidating grandeur posed as physical threat. Instead, the shelves come no higher than hip level and the number of titles is surprisingly limited for a place of this size.
Yet what the library lacks in books, it makes up for in other mediums as it acknowledges this new information era. There are over ninety computers available for public use, mountains of DVDs and journals, and a number of listening hubs. For the musically inclined, there’s even a grand piano.
Housed in a stunning architectural wonder, Cardiff’s Central Library is a gloriously modern place to learn or relax and a perfect addition to our new city. With all of this, you don’t need a forest of thorns to keep you in this building for the day.
URBAN CHALLENGE: Play the piano

Built recently during the extensive regeneration of the Hayes, the Library is an imposing building that manages to be very modern while remaining funky and user-​friendly. The electronic checking out systems don’t take long to work out and you can borrow CDs and DVDs from here as well as books, or you can bring some work here if you want to take advantage of the quiet.
The building is several stories tall and feels open and bright thanks to is largely transparent glass frontage, colourful carpets and signs and the tiered balconies at the front of the building that leave a large gap around the windows for the sunlight to get in. Lifts, escalators and numerous staircases make moving around easy, and the sofas and armchairs that are dotted around the floors make this a very comfortable place to spend a few hours.
I’ve come here to work before and it’s a lovely environment for it but because there isn’t a massive amount of table space I’d recommend coming early or bringing work that you can do without needing a table to rest on. Also watch out for impromptu piano concerts. When I was here a choir did a quick half hour show on the 3^rd floor, which thanks to the balconies you can hear all through the library. It was pleasant music don’t get me wrong, and I don’t think this sort of thing happens every day, but lots of people prefer silence in libraries so maybe ask at the front desk if a choir’s going to be in the day you’re there.
Staff are friendly and helpful and are quick to point you in the right direction here. When I needed something scanned the other day I was referred to the 4^th floor, got my document scanned and loaded onto my USB stick for free and was in and out in under 10 minutes. Bargain.

Opened by the Manic Street Preachers and housed in a striking modern building in the central Hayes area of the city, Cardiff Central Library is a fantastic facility open every day of the week.
Gone are the days of Cardiff’s library being a stuffy, claustrophobic kind of a place — this venue pushes the concept of a library to new levels with large open spaces and great expanses of glass flooding the venue with natural light and offering wonderful views across the city.
Apart from the impressive range of some 90,000 books, there’s also a good collection of 10,000 CDs and DVDs for music and film lovers — and a relaxation area for reading. Amongst the collections are 10,000 Welsh language items, and the venue offers WiFi, 2 listening hubs, 4 visual needs pods, a dedicated children’s floor, and more than 90 PCs for public use. There are even meeting rooms for hire!

This is a massive library full of nearly all of the books that you could ever want, from all genres of books, the good and the bad, the historical and the fantasy worlds to escape into.
This new improved building is about four floors high or more, and it is a much more stylish facility than the last central library. It has taken a while to come into action, but it is finally here… ready and waiting… Well it has been for a while actually.
You can take; up to twenty books out each time you do so and you can have them on loan for several weeks, you just need to keep renewing them either by phone or by going online.
The staff are on board and are on the ball, very friendly and very helpful. You just have to be confident to ask them for help, they can’t read your minds you know… There are plenty of computers accessible and plenty of screens to scan your books under and to take them back that way to.
Great for all ages…

I’ve always preferred working in cafes to working in libraries, but Cardiff Central Library might just be the first establishment to change my mind on that front.
For starters, you don’t have to buy and nurse a coffee to feel like you have a right to be there. Secondly it’s quieter, although not too quiet to give that uncomfortable feeling of really wanting to scream, just to see people’s reactions. No, this place is quite busy at the moment with tables to students filling up the space between bookshelves.
Although it’s got a great modern and spacious feeling to it, I think that I’m just one of those people who prefer old tradition library buildings, although this one is fun.
There are lots of staff on hand to give you help, and, even when it’s busy, you’ll be able to find a neat little chair to tuck yourself away into.
My one criticism is that their fiction section doesn’t appear to be all that large. In fact, there seems to be a whole lot more room waiting for books to fill it. This library will only get better as it matures, like literary cheese.

Defiantly one of the best libraries I have been too. Its really open and airy with great views over the city below. There is no stuffiness about this place at all. You’re not going to get shushed by batty old librarians and the staff are really very helpful.
Its so easy to get books out, reserve what you want and drop it back quickly. You can also borrow CD’s and DVD’s too. Its got free wi-​fi throughout, loads of computers for the public to use and even a grand piano for you to practice on!
Its also got plenty of drinks machines and places to relax. Its a real haven within the city.

Also known as my office, Cardiff library is very new and shiny. A great building that gives a great service to the people of the city. Besides all things readable, you can use their printer there for 20p a page and also have documents scanned for free (Do bring a USB stick though).
The layout is very modern and fresh. Chairs and desks laden the spacious floor in every nook and cranny for you to tuck yourself away into your studies, reading, ect. Free Wifi access ia also available though you won’t be able to use download programs or the likes of MSN.
It’s a great place to get my work done and I often find a seat over looking Cardiff through the huge windows. It really is a wonderful place in my eyes.
I also saw a band play in here recently at the weekend, it gave the library a great casual atmosphere and in general doesn’t feel stuffy or serious at all.