The library is better than my expectations! The interior is very nice and clean, also quiet enough…read morefor me to study here since my house is in construction. Besides the reading area, there are comfy leather couches to relax! You can also view the trees outside through those windows. Moreover, it opens until 8pm in ALL weekdays including Friday, unlike many other libraries, which is super convenient! Generally it's a good place to whether work or study!

This one is great for little kids! Story time every Tuesday is our favorite thing. There is a great…read moreplay kitchen and plenty of great books to choose from. The staff is very patient with all the littles that come through. We love our little library.

I take my kids to a local library at least once a week. We started going to this library a few…read moreweeks ago and it has quickly become our favorite. My kids love the children's section. It is bright yet cozy and the book selection is great. We've discovered many new titles just browsing here. There are numerous comfortable chairs and nooks to read in. One unique offering at this library is that they rent out Nordic cake pans in all different shapes, themes, and sizes. What a neat idea! Who wants to store a cake pan that you only use for one holiday? Now you can rent it. I haven't tried it yet but love the idea. This library also loans out passes to local museums and we recently checked one out to go to CMOST for free. There were passes available for almost all of the local museums. I also appreciate that this library has spacious family restrooms with changing tables.

They recently remodeled this library to reduce noise. Well, ladies, no amount of remodeling will…read morereduce noise if you speak alta voce at the circulation desk and laugh like school girls. Could we return to a time when librarians spoke quietly and shushed loud talkers? I'm not even 50 yet but I remember the good ole days.

Nice little library. The librarians are friendly, but holy smokes are they loud! Forget about…read morequietly reading or working here. I was forced to listen to all of the ebbs and flows and controversies of their work day. It is a small place so I expect to overhear conversations of nearby workers, but their voices are extremely loud.

People need to remember that library's are meant to be quiet places. We don't talk in our outside…read morevoice, we don't hang out in the stacks and have a loud conversation about local gossip and we don't talk on our phones. The librarians do nothing about it and are among the worst offenders. It's a small library with very few study tables and even fewer outlets. We can overlook that and the village is looking to remedy that. However, I'm not sure how they will remedy people's lack of consideration.

I have been to many different libraries over my 60+ years and I have to say one of my favorites…read more From the quaint outside to the equal welcoming inside. Sara Kipp and her staff are wonderful. Ask her anything and if she doesn't know (not to often) she will do her best to find out. Offering different programs for all ages or a quiet place to do some work and most of all great conversation. It is a must stop in you are in the area.

From the owner: Provide access to everything and anything…read more Like: books, movies, magazines, resumes, newspapers, information, programming, computers, neighbors, history, tool kits, crafters, friends, volunteers...

What a lovely library! Not the typical library from when I was a kid in NYC. This one has high…read moreceilings, lots of light and tons of space. Children's area is separate and colorful, the computer lab area seems to be well-kept and there are comfortable chairs here and there. Obviously, plenty of books to keep one occupied. Upon entering, it was comfortably air conditioned on a warm evening. Bathroom was cleaner than expected. Vibe was quiet-ish...but still noisier than libraries of my youth. Nobody was "sushing" anyone.

This review is for the "branch", not the county library system as a whole, and is relative to…read morepublic libraries in general. It's a medium-sized downtown branch and the flagship of the county library system, housed in a somewhat dreary and dated 1970s building that suffers from the nadir of institutional architecture. The new addition is supposed to open later this year and should make for a much nicer children's department and open up more space in front for adult readers. In the meantime the building is a bit depressing to linger in, and does not have a lot of the comforting aspects for the reader. The construction project has no doubt not helped. Free parking just next to the library, and it's in a neat downtown location across from city hall and catty-corner to the Jay walk. The collection is decent for a public library - not "downtown" quality, if you will, but as a very large library for a city this size and for a relatively small county, it's pretty nice. The county library system in general seems to function well (we've come from another part of the county so have some points of reference), and the staff are very nice and helpful. The collection does seem to be in need of sprucing up -- culling a number of older titles and adding new books more quickly. The computer facilities are below average, but they are entering the age of loaning e-books so I suspect this is a function of budget and not managerial foot-dragging. In any event it's a mixed bag with respect to ability to use the library for research as a whole. I'm a little torn as for rating this, since I can't quite give it five stars -- I've seen five-star public libraries and this is not one of them -- but in terms of patron service I think they're doing better than average for the country as a whole. Can you compare them to the brand new libraries in Saratoga County? Or do you compare it to the storefront library branches in the same county? Or to the smaller but swankier libraries in the towns in the same county system? I honestly don't know, but my sense is that the sheer (relative) size of the collection and the vigor with which it survives in a shrunken user base merits the fourth star. They're adding on: they're moving forward - full credit here where credit is due. For public institutions to actually expand in this day and age means there's something worth paying attention to about this place. That said, it is not a "destination" library, like, say, the Carnegie in Pittsburgh PA or the main branch in Berkeley CA, et alia - it's not the kind of library you'd go out of your way to visit if you were coming from out of town. It's an old armchair that's probably far more comfortable for its affable familiarity than it is for its design. Great to have for locals who can appreciate it. The attention of readers everywhere, however, should be drawn to the Whitney Book Corner, just down the street at 600 Union, which is the used bookstore operated by the Friends of the Schenectady County Library, which is really quite something and which we'll review separately now that there's a Yelp entry for it.

The Niskayuna Branch of the Schenectady library system is closest to my home. I use it regularly…read moreto pick up books I have "ordered" through the excellent online ordering system. Also, I return books there either inside or in a bin outside if the library is it is not open. The staff are pleasant, efficient, knowledgeable, and pleased to assist. Pluses: There is/are A children's area complete with tables A few computers Chairs scattered around to sit if wanted A copy machine that always works it seems A community room that can be reserved if wanted A bathroom that is always clean Ample parking A ramp near the handicapped parking that leads to the entrance No late fees The grounds of the library are maintained nicely by volunteers who weed and plant seasonal plants. There is a short trail near the edge of the parking lot where you can walk, observe birds, and chill. The branch receives heavy use and is appreciated by residents.

This is the Niskayuna branch library of the Schenectady County Library system, located on Nott…read moreStreet just across from City Hall. Since this is a first review, I'll cover the basics. This branch is on the small side, but is a nice modern building of very recent vintage. They've got better than average hours and very helpful and courteous staff. We've been to the kid storytimes a few times, which I have to report are somewhat below average for the genre. There's a big community room in the back, which is where meetings and story times are held. The children's section is nice and large, and there are toys to play with, a nice seating area, and a separate juvenile reference section. There's no "sound segregation" between the kids' section of the library from the rest of the library, so unfortunately the kids have to be quiet, relatively speaking, even though they're off on one side. The adult collections are what I'd call popular adult-circulating. The collection of books in general is very much on the old side - browsing both non-fiction and fiction sections I have found it a bit stale, although many libraries have had challenging times for new acquisitions of late. But they do try to keep the popular bestseller-type-stuff on the shelves and they have an assortment of DVDs and CDs and so forth. I don't generally use the library for the latter but one appreciates the effort they make in keeping all forms of media fresh. There is public internet access, but a county library card is required, you must reserve a session, they're timed, and there's filtering software. There are a few computers dedicated just for library catalog access, which tend to be the ones we use. It's thin for any kind of research, including somewhat regrettably local history. For that you have to go to the downtown branch in Schenectady across from city hall. One feature to note: outside in the parking lot is the entrance to a short walk through a marshy woods - takes less than five minutes to walk, and it's a nice little tromp. There's no play structure at this library (they don't seem to have discovered this serendipity of architecture in New York, that we can see) but there are some benches in the back the younger set can climb over. All in all, a very homey and welcoming, if small, branch.

Great place and excellent wifi. I beautiful building on the Hudson River with incredible views…read more The first half of the library is built and dedicated to Carnegie, and the second half is a modern structure that is breathtaking. Highly recommended.

Staff was very helpful when I wanted to create a library card. Glad I came to visit when I was in…read moreSaratoga Springs!

This is an amazing library with tons of resources for people of all ages and abilities! It was such…read morea fun welcoming experience! Loads of programming and activities for kids. A quiet playroom for younger ones, computers for older kiddos, a scavenger hunt, large fish tank, coloring pages. I mean there is so much for kids to do here! Easily spent two hours here without any kids (inc a 20 month old) getting bored and without sitting reading together (as crazy as that sounds lol). If my youngest didn't get tuckered out by the fun we easily could have stayed another 45 mins if we did pick books and snuggle up. The adult section had loads of meeting rooms, quiet nooks, large windows to sit by, and tons of variety to choose from. Video games, movies, music, and books of all sorts! Truly a gem to the area. We can't wait to come back.

Love this place & the renovation made it that much better. The kids area is great and they always…read morehave fun activities planned. I love that they have virtual author speakers, too, and have watched several of them.

Hello, former librarian here who loves libraries! I often try to seek out a library to visit when I…read moretravel. I noticed that this branch of the Troy Public Library was near the area I was exploring, so I walked in and was surprised at the historic building - it's very unique, but a bit crowded. I was greeted right away by friendly and smiling librarians - love that. I had fun looking at the new books section, and I did use the restroom (you need a key from the desk to access it). This library doesn't seem like a spot you could really hang out and work or read for hours, but it had a good selection of new books and a small children's area.

This building is beautiful, and there is a great history about it on the library's Wikipedia page…read more Unfortunately, the day I visited, some work has been going on outside, so the exterior isn't quite visible at the moment. But the interior is quite interesting, even better that it's a library! It might take a nice stroll through to get the lay of the land. Rest rooms might be a bottleneck, some of the ones on the upper floor are currently closed, and you need the key from the front desk to use the ones on the ground floor. I'm also very glad that this library is part of my local library system. As much as I enjoy going to the library in my town, I'd certainly make the trip over to Troy to read and do stuff here.