My afternoon "office" for a few hours, I spent my time here pounding out emails and (quietly)…read moredialed in to a Zoom bridge or two. A comfortable work space in the corner where my laptops and phone plugged in and charged. The library is quite large and spacious. Lots of interesting spaces, tons of stacks of books, I thought the shelf of role playing game kits was a unique offering. You do not need to be a local resident in order to use the library, only to borrow materials. [Review 20560 overall - 98 in Indiana - 1541 of 2023.]

SO I was nervous to go to this location which was so silly in hindsight (to go to the downtown…read morelocation) because I'm spoiled by the Southside location by my house. Extensive water damage has closed the Southern location till at least June 2024 so here I was looking for kids' North Dakota books for a school report. Not only did I find an extensive amount of books for my son, I got him some graphic novels, some launchpads, some free seeds from the seed library and a free subscription to the New York Times and Wall Street Journal. I was also intrigued by the library of mysterious things upstairs. The ambience was clean, well thought out, and the staff was superb. I will be back without hesitation. I heard there is a drive-through to drop stuff off for parents with young kids. I have noticed there were a ton of parents and small children there for various groups. Looks promising!

Big disclaimer. Libraries are for people, and university libraries are really for students, and I…read morewandered in with no intention of studying or getting information -- only to gawk and admire a showy display of botanical books as I kicked around campus. Given that the Lilly Library is set aside for rare books and special collections, it's probably not the favorite of most students. But this little place is a beaut, and we waltzed in, were greeted with nothing but smiles, and I just stumbled right across the room and there was that Gutenberg Bible staring right back at me, flanked by John Ford's Oscars and lovely Audubon prints and plenty of other nice items set out to tickle my fancy. Libraries should be publicly funded, not propped up by endowments from pharmaceutical companies, and that includes showy little libraries. But there are worse things you can do with a big pile of pharma money than to build a little palace for the people.

What an incredible collection! Free, and a true campus gem.read more

This gem is well-organized for the best browsing. The staff is mostly volunteers who know and love…read morebooks. It serves the good purpose of supporting library programs. The prices put owning books in everyone's reach.

This is seriously the best bookstore in Bloomington. Nearly new books for amazing used prices!…read moreCharming staff! All sales benefit the Monroe County Public Library.

This place is the best! The librarians are so nice but take library cards without telling you.read more

I am constantly pleased to live in a county with such a good library and to have a branch as fine…read moreas Ellettsville. Staff are always so gracious and pleasant. Loans or transfers come from the main library so efficiently that my requests online take only a couple of days and I do not need to go downtown. Parking is usually (but not always) available without hassle. Inside is clean and fresh an open. We should all have an annual, appreciate your library day. People just do not realize what a huge thing this is if they have always enjoyed these benefits! They have also had the easy check out for years, buzz your card, press your pin, pop down your book and hey presto, you are out the door. I love to speak to the librarians but when they are busy or I am ni a hurry this is terrific.

I don't often review 'non restaurant' locations, but my experience at the Southwest branch of the…read moreBloomington library today left me needing to give rave reviews. It's been forever since I've been in one of the local libraries because I'm such a Kindle reader. But in order to use Libby, I needed to get a new library card and signed up online. The process was simple, and ultimately it led me to the point of needing to visit the Southwest Branch (close to my house) and show proof that I am indeed me, and that I live in Bloomington. A utility bill did the trick. First and foremost, it's a beautiful facility. I didn't spend much time there, and probably won't be there often simply because I'm a digital reader. BUT let me say I may use it as a quiet space and place to read. The woman at the desk (Cathy or Cathi sorry I can't remember) was amazing. She was super helpful, friendly, and not only made my card but laughed at one of my jokes. She went above and beyond to tell me about how to use the library, explain policies and pointed out both Libby and Hoopla. She was great. I used to work part time in a library, and hold them near and dear to my heart and she's exactly what I love about libraries in general. If you're on the south side of town, stop using the downtown branch and move your library activity to this location. They have a great facility, will take anything you reserve from other branches straight to the branch, and you can pick it up there. Kudos to our town for believing in the value of these types of spaces.

So excited about the new library in our neighborhood! They have lots of reading nooks &…read morestudy rooms throughout the library. There's a terrific kids section. There's a teens only room. There's about 20 computers separate from the teen computers. There's a really cool teaching kitchen. There are automated book drops and check out areas. There's a unisex ADA restroom. The library is really popular right now because it just opened so there might be lots of books checked out. Come back next month. Wink. Wink. There's a parking garage downstairs that supposed to have electric plug-ins in the future but not yet. Pretty great so far!

This is a stunning law library. We have been going around looking at law schools with our daughter…read more Visited Indiana University Maurer Law School and ran across their library...WOW. When you walk in the law school in Baier Hall, the law library is on the right...everything else (classrooms, faculty, administrative offices, etc.) is on the left. The library is five stories tall and wrapped around an atrium of the same height. There are soaring windows on the first two levels (mostly looking out onto peaceful Dunn Meadow), loads of various seating on all the floors (carrels, large tables, soft cushy lounge seats, etc.), small breakout rooms seemingly everywhere, and, of course, ranks and ranks of shelved books. The whole place is wired for easy connectivity and when added to their computer room, this library has everything the budding lawyers need. This law library is an attraction all by itself. Exceptional.

Gorgeous. Seriously beautiful campus/building. Helpful staff. Near Starbucks, if you like your…read morecaffeine. As is the case on most campuses, parking is tricky.

The Selection Of Movies Was Jam Packed! The Service Was Good…read moreAnd The Value Was Great And Cheap 10/10 If You Want To Buy Some Movies That Is Not Goodwill, I Recommend This Place!

This store seems to be a place that changes for the sake of change. If it were good change, that…read morewould be great. Fortunately, all is not lost. Some of the good is still there. What's not good is downright ridiculous. For some reason, instead of fiction having nice wide open spaces where you can peruse books and find something new, it's now mostly in an aisle just wide enough for 2 people to stand in. Imagine standing in front of a bookshelf that goes from the floor to 6-7 feet in the air. Imagine not being able to back up more than a step or two and trying to see what's on the shelf. It's not an easy feat. Meanwhile, there is a great open sea in the middle of the store that's wide open. Clearance, you'll be happy to know, now takes up the former fiction spot. So the books that are easiest to see are the ones nobody really wants. Makes perfect sense. In other ideas that clearly make perfect sense, with fewer DVDs on the shelves these days, an upper shelf that is very convenient to browse has a few titles with the cover side out. The bottom shelf, where almost no one wants to go, is still full of product. Changing something and improving it is welcome. Changing it and actively making it worse sucks. I used to spend a fair amount of time browsing. Now I hit a couple of areas and I'm done. Oh - whoever decided putting a dvd rack by the exit should not be making important decisions. Ever. Other than that, it's an ok place to shop.

After finishing a trip to the Mathers Museum of World Culture, my wife and I selected a doorway…read morethat leads to the museum portion of the IU Archaeology department. They share the same building and although there is a separate entrance from the outside, we found it easiest to simply go through the doorway. Note that we didn't see anyone monitoring the museum during our visit, so we just browsed on our own. The museum is part of a larger area which includes a research library and even more exhibits in the central lobby area of the upstairs portion. (Note we did not explore the lower floor which looked off limits.) During our visit, we saw a lot of informational window booths with facts and artifacts that have been gathered from our state. There is a strong connection between this facility and the Angel Mounds in Evansville. There are several displays with information about the Angel Mounds and other mounds which were shaped like snakes, or marching bears. There are also windows with info on artwork inspired by animals, stands showing tribal shields with info, and science facts about animals that have lived in our state. The museum is unique in what it offers, but I understand that it won't appeal to everyone. But considering it is free and puts things into understandable relationships, it does offer value to those who may be interested in local history and/or nature. Review #2205

Nice historical society with some solid exhibits. They do a nice job of portraying the history of…read morethe county and have some interesting exhibits that rotate. One thing I was disappointed in was a lack of Hoagy Carmichael representation, since their archive has a bunch of items in relation to him, including pieces of clothing. The only mention of Hoagy I found on exhibit was part of a little exhibit on famous musicians from the county. Hoagy was further down on the list and you had to listen to a bunch of other snippets before you could get to him. I expected him to be more prominent in this location. I really liked that they had reasonably priced gift shop and a really nice selection of used books/DVDs/sheet music, etc. While the exhibit wasn't doing much in the way of Hoagy, I picked up some really nice used items in relation to him.

This local-focused, self-sustaining non-profit is a great find! The Center offers a museum,…read moreresearch library, and gift store. There are many special event throughout the year and the exhibits refresh often. The building is on the National Register of Historic Buildings and the volunteers who work there are amazing. The grounds are beautiful. Museum Admission: $2 adults, $1 children, under 5 Free (most special events are free) Parking: street or one of the parking garages located 3 blocks away Food: none Credit Cards: Visa, MasterCard