If I'm not out of town, I'll usually be spending a chunk of my Saturday at the Denver library. I've always admired libraries and I love the Central Branch's proximity to my apartment, spacious layout and selection of items. I'm often taking advantage of the great "hold" system where you can request items from a different location be delivered for pickup at your branch of choice. I know they put on a lot of events and I wish I went to them more ... I'll add that to my "to-do list." I'm leaving one star out because I think this branch has the potential to do better things - and that the DPL web site could be jazzed up a bit to be a little more Web 2.0 oriented but all in all, a terrific system. read more

My only issue with this library is its location. Parking is hard to find and you have to park by a meter which sucks because then you are in and out no time to linger. However, since Park Hill closed this is where I can go sometimes for book babies. The room is smaller here for the kiddies, or maybe it seemed this way because there were soooo many people there. I do like that you can check out a book without having to go to a person and just scan it out yourself and out you go. read more

Whether I'm going for matters education or interest, I adore Denver's downtown library for its layout, resources, and of course its voluminous collection of books. Everything is very easy to find, and the whole thing is quite fluid. Great location in central Denver. read more

Of course a public library will get 5 stars! Hello - free books! I love the self service area - the fact that you can go on line, find your book, reserve it, show up, find it under your name in a special room, check it out yourself and leave... Yes! You can re-new on line! Staff is friendly and helpful when you need them! Special 2 minute book drop if you need to drop off your books -or you can drop them at any other Denver library! Woot! I like the look of the library and all the activities! I haven't spent a ton of time here - but thanks to Yelp Bookclub - i am starting too! read more

I love the Michael Graves addition to the old library. Denver is lucky to have a collection of building by top architects such as Gio Ponti, Fentress, I.M. Pei, and Daniel Libeskind.. It is a fun place to visit. I usually browse and check out the happenings. One negative is the homeless that are hanging out or walking around the building. It is a big problem for the city. What to do? read more

So many good reviews, not much to add, other than my haiku... Denver Library you make me very happy oh how I love you read more

I love this library. It is huge and you could easily get lost in here for the day. I unfortunately do not get here often enough but wish that I would make more of an effort! The staff has always been friendly and super helpful :) I live in Englewood and our library does not hold a flicker to this mammoth. read more

The first thing I did when I moved to Colorado is get a library card. Been coming to the downtown library ever since. It's huge and has many different sections, which fulfills all my needs. If I ever have late fees (which doesn't happen all that often), I always donate some books to the library first and then tell them I owe some late fees. They always dismiss them -- so do this if you can. There's a ton of bums in this library, but so what. It's public, and they need somewhere to spend their time. Just don't leave your stuff beyond your sight and you'll be fine. read more

why buy a book when you can borrow it for free! I have lived in many of cities and this library is at the top of my list. Typically very clean and security is on the ball (in a good way). Yes there a couple of homeless people but you have to expect this for a city library. The staff is very helpful and friendly. Tax dollars well spent. read more

Amazing building and great selection but (unfortunately) serves as a shelter for the homeless. I brought my kids there yesterday and was blown away by the situation. I know this is a huge issue in Denver and the public library cannot exclude patrons. With that said, the city should consider alternatives or some fix. (As an aside, the employees are all very helpful and friendly and display extreme empathy in their dealings with the less fortunate patrons. Their service to others is commendable.) read more

Im digging the library. My internet got too expensive since my roommate moved out so now I just cruise over to the library. Internet is FREE and their computers actually work.. unlike mine. Who knows, maybe Ill even go scope out a few books one of these days. Only reason I didnt give 5 stars on this place is theres some stinky dudes sitting next to me. Oh well, even free internet has got its price. read more

4.5 stars. This library is huge and overwhelming... in a wonderfully good way though! There are plenty of people there that work there and can assist you if you do get lost. Plenty of books and media to access which is delightful and it really is a beautiful building as well! They have an awesome film library but much of it is on VHS tapes so if you still have a VCR than you should be fine. They do have DVD's as well but not as much as some of their satellite locations in the metro area because according to a staff member the DVD's have a tendency... a greater tendency than the other locations of being checked out and not coming back... ever. read more

I never realized how cool this place can be...once you get passed all the weirdos that hang around. But, that's part of the charm :-) My favorite thing about the DPL is that you can go on to the website and place holds on books, CDs, movies, anything! Even if the title isn't at this branch they will get the item from another branch for pick-up here. Moreover, they send you an email when it's ready to pick-up! Sometimes the website says it's ready but it's not on the actual hold shelf...so wait another day. Because this library is so big there are tons of places to hide and get some quite time. The main floor is so busy with activity I usually go up to the 3rd floor to just escape it all. Every now and then there are some interesting happenings. I once saw what could only be classified as a "hippy" in the main foyer singing to a group of people who were just sitting around listening. The kicker was that she had a tween with her who looked like he wanted to run screaming from the building cuz he had to play the accompaniment on a rain stick. Too funny - but that's the kind of thing you see here! The staff is always helpful and polite. If you aren't a people person it's not problem. There are multiple self check out kiosks all over the place so you can just do your thang and move on. I come to this branch all the time and I'll keep doing so because there is an abundance of information out there...I want more! read more

This is one of the nicest libraries I've ever visited. It's huge and pretty and makes me salivate. One of my favorite things about this library is all of the crazies that hang out in and around the building (and in the bathrooms). The whole area near Capital Hill is full of them. You may feel like you're walking through a gauntlet -- but I loved it! read more

Not much to say, it's a library that's in the downtown Denver area. It is in a nice location next to civic center park. I didn't get to check out any books, just stopped in a few times while on vacation to catch up on school work. It is quiet and quite large; feels like a campus library. It's also a good place to people watch, you can see some unique and odd people walking in and out. Good luck with parking though, it's either street or street. Take your pick! read more

Pretty nice library. Its clean and big on the inside. I had to use one of there computers to print something out i saved in my email from my laptop. And there computer even had the program i use on my laptop to open it with and it printed with no problems. Besides who wants to spend 18 bucks an hour to use kinkos internet when you just want to print something out. 10 cents is worth it. The 5th floor is nice and quiet if you want to use WIFI on your laptop. The chairs are comfortable and they have plug ins around and are open til 8pm Most nights which is nice. And everyone is helpful to guide you in the right direction on what your looking for. read more

This review is simple: The DPL building is amazing and is a wonderful addition to the downtown architecture scene. When I used to live downtown I'd visit this location at least once a week. The only down side? There can be some sketchy people milling about outside the building at certain times of the day/year (-1 star). read more

I should probably spend more time at the library but the ability to put a hold onto the books / movies that I want to read or see on the library's online system has made it too easy for me to run in and get the items I have waiting for me and just go. The library inside is beautiful and their check out systems could not be easier to use. read more

We are so lucky to live in Denver and have such amenities as the Denver Public Library. My favorite place is the Map floor on the 5th floor. So many maps and history all located in one convenient place. It is truly an historical treasure. Located in the middle of the city, right where it is supposed to be!! Be thankful Denver!!! read more

So many people hated this place when it opened, mostly for the architecture*, which was actually sort of hum-drum for the time, but Denver's about 10-15 years behind culturally compared to NYC or LA, so it was shocking and offensive. Since then it seems like the library has settled in just fine and there's even the addition of some even more garishly modern buildings nearby. It's a great collection of books and media, and there's free wi-fi if you get a free account at the library. * (or the fact that their tax money was used for something that serves the public interest, horror of horrors) read more

Pretty much anything in the Denver Library catalog can be found in this library. Look no where else. Plus, the other libraries in Denver have such horrid hours as it is, but this branch will stay gold I do hope. Unfortunately it is kind of an inconvenient trip because of the driving downtown. Plus busing/walking isn't always too pleasant you might have to pass some really insane folk. The building itself is massive. The book areas seem kind of whatever but the beauty is in the History/Geneology section and the exhibit about Colorado's history in one of the higher floors. Otherwise, this library has plenty of room for your work, all these desks around. Enjoy. read more

Awesome! Large space, quiet, multiple floors with study spots that range from comfy chairs, 6 person tables to 1 person personal desks. Wifi is free and fast! I'm currently enjoying a beautiful view of downtown from the second floor. If you need a great place to wonder or study this library is perfect. I wish they were open later! read more

This a huge library with all things great being books. A perfect day, go to lunch downtown, get pinkberry and then spend hours at the library. The layout here is a little finky. And the library has become a little run down over the past few years. I never thought that Denver would be a place where there would be a need for a DPD officer to greet you at the door but hey. One thing I don't like about this library is that I can never find anyone to help me and always have to go all the way back downstairs wait in line and ask my question which is okay. I'm not picky when they lend me free books. Another thing be careful when it comes to parking. The museum is right next door so if you feel inspired then you can just walk across the street to get inspired more. A nice day includes a library. read more

Love this library in all it's enormousness and selection. The clerk are always friendly and helpful and take the time to talk. Definitely my favorite library in the area. Though it's busy, you can always find a nook somewhere to sneek away and read. LOVE that. read more

Beautiful library and friendly staff. Take a tour of the 7th floor, too. We saw the pink exhibit and it was beautiful and interesting to see so many formats. read more

My issue with the Central Denver Pubic Library is not exactly the Library itself. Its beautiful and huge and has everything you could possibly need. The staff has always been superb and very friendly if you need any help. It is a beautiful library and I so wish I could give it more stars, however..I came here on a Monday after work to study for an exam. I live in Capitol Hill and I am completely aware of and not in anyway bothered by the homeless population. Other times I have run in to get a book on hold I have also noticed a large number of homeless hanging out. Great, no big deal, truly. However, on this day I went to go study I walked around the 4 floors of the library to find a quiet nook to study for almost an hour. Every single, and I mean EVERY single table was occupied by a homeless person, bag and all. They were in the corners snoring as loud as possible, grouping over tables and talking and laughing. I finally nestled down to a table that circles the inside portion of the library and put in my ear phones. The table was covered in grime and sticky, and smelled like BO. Then, there must have been a small altercation down below because yelling was radiating up through the opening and echoing throughout that area. I left to go find one of the private study rooms, and once again ALL of them were occupied by groups of homeless with their food and trash and belongings spewed about. Finally found another table and sat down. After about 30 minutes a pair of gentlemen walked to the same area and started yelling at their computer, and i mean yelling, "you F***** god damn f****** computer". That was it. I have never been more uncomfortable in my life, let alone wasting about 2 hours of time that was needed to study. Maybe this is because it is starting to get cooler out...I am not sure. For a quick come in and grab a book on hold, its great! It is such a shame because this library is amazing and beautiful and I really do love it and would love to be able to come here and study, however its not worth my time. read more

I can't believe I've never done a review for this library. In all my many travels around the US, this by far is the best library I've ever been to. My only one complaint is that trying to find somewhere to park is absolutely horrible, but I would take the 16th Street trolley/train thing to the end and walk from my job. But it doesn't lose a star for that. Did I say how much I love this building? Oh man - this is what every main library in every city should look like. Like I'm trying to think of any other libraries that I've gone to that look the same - hmmm...none that I can remember. Oh wait, maybe the Stephen Schwarzman Building in NY. The librarians on staff are soooo helpful...I remember the first time I went there and I had no clue how to find the book I was looking for. They provided me a map and gave directions. Of course I didn't follow any directions - I just wanted to peruse as I was getting lost (which was fine by me!) This is one of the libraries where I wouldn't mind spending a few hours. Of course with Denver's large population of homeless people, there are homeless that utilize the library. I remember seeing one of the regulars that I always saw at the 16th St. mall. Most of the time they are reading books, or you will see a few of them sleeping. I bet if the weather is bad they may take shelter in there for the day - I know I would. But I've never had any problems. read more

I am 100% certain that I reviewed this library a couple years ago, which is odd as I can remember specific details of my review, but rather than rehash that review which was not 100% flattering, I will consider this my update and star-upping that takes into consideration their eBook program. I received a Kindle as a birthday gift almost three months ago and eagerly logged in to the eBook area of the library's website the very next morning. I typed in title after title from my long-running list of books I'd noted to read in the future, and to my dismay every single one had a waitlist. Some of them had seriously loooong waitlists too. I regretted my stupid Kindle and wondered if I'd have to start buying books and racking up costs and ramping up the media storage in my home. I dejectedly put about 10 books on hold and waited. Well, only a few days passed before four of my books were available. Then the next day two more were available. And so on. I started panicking, I did not want to lose my precious place in line for these books if I couldn't read them in time! Then I did a little poking around and found that you can not only put books on hold, but you can also add them to an online wishlist. I went into my holds list, removed the holds and moved all the titles to my wishlist. Now, I put a couple on hold at a time and have a revolving cycle of free eBooks at my fingertips. I plow through books fairly quickly but haven't been without available books since I started. It's not a bad little system and I'm very pleased with the available books so far, though it pales in comparison to what you can access in hardcover. Sometimes I get too many books arriving at once that I won't finish in three weeks, and I have to remove the hold and re-add to my wishlist. I hate that because I have to start over. But hey, it's free! I appreciate the emails that tell me when a book on hold becomes available, and the fact that you get five days to check it out before you lose your place (I usually wait until the very last day, even the very last hour, to check out that new book so I can extend my time as much as possible when I have multiple books checked out). You also get email reminders when your book loan is about to expire. And you can even see how many other people are on the waitlist for each book, so if I need something fast, I will check those stats and pick something with a short "line." If you happen to not finish your book and need to re-check it out, your place in the book will be saved and loaded. There is a huge selection of audio books as well. I'm addicted to the NPR Driveway Moments series and they have a bunch of those. I'm a fan! read more

Pretty nice place! I didn't study here, but I checked it all out. There is plenty of seating, plenty of quiet spots, and even a coffee shop downstairs. I don't know how good the coffee is, but they have a Marzocco. The only thing, you cannot drink the coffee upstairs... read more

This is my favorite place so far in Denver! It is so big and beautiful, and I love spending time here. Obviously with it's size it has a huge collection. Not only of books, but of CDs, DVDs and magazines as well. The "what's new" and "recently returned" sections are great. I always check those out first. I love the self check out and the self serve pick up area for items you can reserve online. I use that function all the time. It's great that the library has a website where you can put books on hold and grab em when they're available! Also, the librarians are incredibly sweet and helpful! I'd never been to a library before where you can pick up random phones (and they're everywhere!) to speak to someone for help right away. Also, they have a little cafe and a bookstore where you can buy used books! Which is awesome. They are a little pricey, but obviously not as expensive as buying a brand new book. (My last library only sold theirs for 50 cents to a dollar, and here it's more like $4-6.) All the books I've bought have been in great condition! My only real complaint is the parking situation, I wish they had their own lot. It's a struggle, but worth it once you get inside! read more

Very cool library. Although sometimes you have to shield your eyes because for some reason the DPL IT staff don't know how to block porn on the internet. So needless to say you may find yourself looking for a good book to read but instead catch a homeless man looking at porn on the computers. read more

I am truly disappointed to have to give the Denver Public Library a 3-star review. Having been designed by one of my favorite architects, Michael Graves, it is truly a beautiful building and I was excited to visit it. My issue, and what leaves a sour taste in my mouth, is the sheer number of vagrants scattered throughout the library sleeping, abusing property, and even harassing customers. I didn't enter any bathroom. I sympathize for them but there is also a way people must behave in the library. read more

The DPL is my home when I can't stand my real home. The plaque on the west side entrance says it all. "I have always imagined that Paradise will be a kind of library". If I had it my way it would be open everyday all day. The only time I don't like going there is when it's really cold, because that's when all the homeless flock inside (understandably) and their smell pretty much ruins the ambience. read more

I'm beyond excited to share this news. A friend at work introduced me to the DPL where you can find a plethora of DVDs, music and books (obviously). But here's the thing, I dig foreign films big time and have searched high and low for years of films I viewed at the International Film Festival in Santa Barbara over the years, never to find them in our "region" on DVD, but today, the Librarian was able to locate some of them "in our region". Being a huge film buff and having that luxury removed from my life (i.e., the Santa Barbara International Film Festival), I've been cinema-starved in Denver. The Netflix (after waiting all week, movies arrive damaged), no more perusing video stores, RedBox's limited choices and annoying people breathing down your neck, put me in a dither, until today! What I like best about this option is, IT'S FREE. I personally find that foreign films are hit and miss and not only that, but having them available to you in a theater near home seems just as foreign so this is a wonderful alternative and I hope others find this news as exciting as I do. read more

The building is very welcoming. We checked out the children's section and talked with a children's librarian who was very helpful. I was impressed by the number of computers and games available to the kids as well as the layout and how very clean and quit the whole place was. We also checked out the teen lab on the 4th floor that had a 3D printer, sound studio and we watched them give some teens a course in coding in JavaScript. Very impressive. read more

Coming from a small town with a small library, I wasn't use to the idea of spending a day at the library (this thing was the size of a 3 bedroom apartment). Now with the Denver library, I became lost on my first visit. Besides the plethora of books and magazines, I found myself checking out DVDs more than anything and avoiding the $3 that a video rental store would normally charge you. I would have given the Denver library 5 stars if it wasn't for all the weird dudes looking at pornography on the public computers. read more

The Denver Public Library is apparently one of the best in the nation. Congratulations Denver! You may even guess this is the case upon your first visit to the library. The space is gigantic and the books are flowing. There are multiple stories and many many places to explore. I love being in DPL because no matter how crowded it is, there is always some corner unturned where you can bide your time. There are fancy desks and even fancier bums---in for a day of reading just like you! In fact, a favorite place for bums of course, but why not? Bums are people too. It's all about the love at the DPL, oh of course except for that one isolated incident a couple of years back involving a shooting in the children's section of the library. Cute! read more

This is an interesting place. I have seen a bum fight in the elevator area. They were arguing over drugs. It was hilarious. The guards were quick to break it up. My girlfriend saw one on another day. They have a big computer lab. They have classes available for building basic computer skills. Free wi-fi too. They also have a pretty big selection of music and movies. The best part is the huge book selection. It is very extensive. Lots of cook books too. It is a beautiful building. A great addition to to the Denver architecture. The main issue I have with this place is that there is no parking. How did that not come up in the planning of this place? read more

This library should be great, lots of good areas. However there are 4-5 floors of usable bathrooms and all it is are homeless people changing, sink showering, shaving and making it real uncomfortable You can go up and down the floors multiple times and it will just be different people doing the same thing. It's a library. There should be better resources than this for them but not the point. I just walked into a guy changing in the middle of the bathroom, not the stall, which was the last straw. Where do the children go here? read more

architecturally: amazing looking. it was minutes walking distance from my apartment, and not too many homeless dudes looking at porn. read more