Perfection with shelves. The best library I have attended and worked for as a volunteer!

I stopped in to use the high speed Wi-Fi; the parking was great, building is beautiful and spacious. There was plenty of room for me to use my laptop (I'm traveling and needed a place to complete/send a project). Sarasota Gulf Gate Library is nice! read more

We love this local library! They are always holding events (in real life pre-COVID-19 but now virtually). In my opinion, they do a fabulous job of bringing the community in and connecting with them. The library is always nicely decorated with themes and staff goes above and beyond in my opinion-it is much appreciated. For Halloween there were so many great displays and awesome take home activities/crafts for children (and one for adults)-it really filled the void of having Halloween during COVID times. I was told that the Friends of the Gulf Gate Library donates and sponsors these offerings so I would like to sincerely acknowledge them and THANK YOU SO MUCH to them. You halo make our library experience magical. Also during this precarious time there are DIY story time and craft kits available. The staff here does a really awesome job. My interactions with Shyenne, the Children's Librarian, have been great along with the other staff members. The staff is great and helpful and the library is beautiful and pretty new. It is two levels and the upstairs contains the computers for the use of library members. There is plenty of parking on either side of the building well as a bike pole to lock your bike up at. The library is clean and there is hand sanitizer readily available there. read more

Very good neighborhood library. Well appointed post-modern two floor building with separate kids and teen sections. You can reserve books online from any Sarasota library and pick them up at your closest one. Good event offerings for young and older. Book drop drive up in back. Convenient parking. Though could use some more shading. :) read more

As far as smaller area libraries go, Gulf Gate Library has it all and then some. The library itself is just great, rather new, immaculate, spotless, great lighting, a super large children's area, a juvenile area, computer areas and everything well organized. Then, of course being in an area often referred to geriatric ward of Florida, one of the largest collections of large print books I've ever seen. And, for myself being well over 70 in age, a very welcomed library addition. The library staff here is as friendly, polite and helpful as you'll find anywhere some of whom appear to be volunteers. There is also a "Friends of Gulf Gate Library" area that has what is posted as a being a "gift shop," but unless it is a book, I didn't see any other gifts. However, the deals on books, some of them used but appearing unused are great. I picked up a really good cookbook for $4.00 that would have easily run me $25 or $35 in a retail book store. Another good thing about Gulf Gate Library is that they have decent parking, and as a tip, if you park here check out the little marshy dip at the far end of the parking lot. When I've been here, it's been occupied by some of the biggest yet most friendly sandhill cranes you could ever hope to meet up with. read more

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As an avid reader that has relocated from Broward County, I was so excited to finally get a Sarasota County library card. I walked into the Gulf Gate Library with my application and was in awe at how clean and organized this library is (Broward is a hot mess). The woman at the front let me pick out what color card I wanted and then I was on my way! Lots to choose from based on what I could see. I really only looked at fiction as I only had a few minutes to spare, but I am looking forward to coming back to browse through everything else. The fiction section alone had a great selection and I happily left with a couple new books to read. Fun fact: Sarasota County has an app for the libraries in which you can search for items and see what branch(es) the item is in stock at! You can also renew or put items on hold all through the app. I thought this was pretty cool and definitely very handy. Not so fun fact: A lot of the employees were only wearing those clear shields and not an actual mask. Not sure how to feel about this??? read more

No kids activities in the "kids zone" We were hoping to find legos, blocks, trains or puppets. Things we have found at other Public libraries. I would not recommend this library for kids. read more

The lady working in the children's section was extremely rude and unwelcoming. My friend and I had our two children (8 months and 2 years old) and decided to take them to the library. We were the only people in the entire children's section and were sitting right by the toy area letting our boys play quietly. The worker came up to us and said "you look very comfortable blocking the walkway for everyone else. Again, we are the only people there and would have absolutely moved if we were in anyone's way. Her tone was so I inviting that we decided to leave. She started moving the toys to a corner and said "so I move the toys for you and now you're going to leave?" She could not understand that an 8 month old would not be able to sit at a table to play with toys. As a teacher, someone like this should not be working around children. Our boys were quiet and not bothering anyone. It's hard enough for moms to find children friendly places in this area, the children's section at a public library should absolutely be a child friendly place. I grew up going to this library and volunteering as well, I'm disappointed that we will not be returning. Hopefully another public library in the area will offer a better experience for children. read more

Paid for my temporary library card here -- good deal - $15 for 3 months. Not a huge selection of books at this branch, and what is here is kind of dated. That's not important when you are looking for a Terry Pratchett book, but it's kind of funny to see an "Idiot's Guide To Windows ME" on the shelf still... Lots of computers, lots of jigsaw puzzles, many DVDs, not so many CDs... read more

I love this library! It's perfect for kids. They have tons of free programs for the kids and a great selection of books. There's also a small play type area for them as well. We love going here! read more

Today was the first time going to this library so I didn't realize you needed a library card just to use a computer. When I first walked in I explained to the man at the desk that i've never been here before and needed to use a computer and then he said I could just go upstairs and ask the lady at the help desk any questions I had. So I go upstairs and try to get on a computer and realize i needed a library card so I asked the old lady at the desk if i could get a library card and she told me i needed to go downstairs to get one. I told her the man downstairs didn't explain that to me after telling him that i was new here and needed a computer. so she rudely tells me that I cant expect the people downstairs to tell me everything and that I need to do that myself. well geez i'm sorry but im pretty sure its THEIR job to tell me how this establishment works. I shouldn't have to figure it out myself. The point of writing this is that I didn't appreciate being talked down to by the lady upstairs at the computer help desk. Just extremely rude and unprofessional. read more