Sunnyvale Library Reviews

Very nice library. Helpful and friendly staff. I have fond memories going here regularly as a child. Now my children love this library too.

I was very impressed with this library compaired to others in the area, much friendlier staff.. I am happy this is now my local library

Lots of fond memories of this place from my childhood.

Great place to study; good wifi connection. Very homely/friendly staff. Only problem is that don't have group study or conference rooms, hence people end up talking and chatting in teen area. Another issue is the lack of electrical outlets near the desk area.

They got blu rays. Why wouldn't you give them five stars? Not even Mountain View has blurays

Very quiet, very peaceful and very spacious.
Totally recommended.

Lots of good books to choose from they had anything from little kids to teenager romance novels

Nice and quiet place to work / study. Very good collection of kids books and very helpful staff.

Really nice library with plenty of parking and good wifi! There are a lot of quiet areas too to sit and do work or study, and there are a lot of books. Really comfortable library, and although I didn't get to come here for long, it's definitely somewhere I'd consider going to get some work done or if I need some quiet!

This is a great spot for some quiet to get my homework done and the staff is really friendly.

Wonderful handling of the pandemic situation. Picked up our household's reserved books easily. Thank goodness for library books as much, much more reading than usual is being done by all in our house these days.

Please increase hours at a few libraries, have a few 24 hr libraries or open very early rather than having so many fancy smhancy branches. Public libraries are the last place where people with no/few resources can gain the knowledge and skills to compete with people with much higher resources. Investment in public libraries have way more multiplier effects and lead to social mobility than investment in roads and fancy buildings. This is especially true in Silicon Valley where the high cost of living keeps people with low resources out. Incumbents will always try to increase the barrier to entry and to create monopolies, and it will protect their interests in the short term. However in the long term, these incumbents who try to build barriers to entry will drive the innovators away to Texas or Boston with much lower cost of living, leading to lower innovation and SV will die a slow death. You as public libraries have this opportunity to lower the barrier to entry and drive innovation and growth in SV more than any other entity, if you chose to take on this role.

Pretty large collections of books, but quite noisy in comparing to other libraries nearby. Also seems not very well managed, because people are eating their lunch in the library...

pathetic library hands down. its more of a cafe than library with people discussing from politics to family issues. last time I saw chinese woman conducting business on phone from the silent area. The board SILENT area means make more noise area for people visiting. there are no advanced or good books collection. printers fail. no one to attend to at printers or scanners section. unclean toilets. people coughing and sneezing openly over each other.

We love this library. A huge selection of books. Friendly and helpful staff.
The speakers and events are amazing. And out favorite part is printing things on the 3D printer.

Nice book collection and wonderful staff, really helpful with whatever needed

quiet, Suitable for students and any person loves books, The place is very good, also there are parking lots and free WiFi

The place is really good. Great atmosphere here. Quiet and cosy.

I really love coming to Sunnyvale public library..it has become a part of my life... it is a cute cozy and quiet library with positive vibes ..also we get free WiFi that is secondary for me though..the tables and chair here are good cleaned and well maintained..we can easily find the books if not there is a computer access or someone from admin constantly try to help us getting what we want..simply love it...I come to prepare for my national boards..but yeah it s cool...

Good collection of books and CDS. There is always a waitlist for popular CDs and books. Staff is super friendly and lovely. This place is in dire need of upgrades. But a good spot to hang out and read something once in a while.

The quiet areas are very beneficial to study or do any work that needs concentration. This place has huge collection of books, study material for entrance exams TOEFL GRE CBEST. The timings are perfect ( weekdays till 9pm mon to Thursday) to go n study after office hours. The book sale is also useful. They have online collection of movies. They do provide free passes to museums on the library card. Books can be read online via our account.

Such a great library! Reminds me why libraries continue to be and still are essential institutions in our communities!

Just after graduating from San Jose State University, I went to the Sunnyvale Public Library to research a company for an interview. After a librarian helped me find the information I needed, I spend a few hours reading in a very quiet environment. The librarian also directed me to the NOVA Job Center, which is next door.

If you are looking out for a nice,quiet and well lit place to study, this library is for you. They have a good collection of books & dvds as well.

The existence of the Yanggu County Library can be said to have largely solved my "book shortage". The library has a large collection of Chinese books. The process of borrowing and returning is very convenient. I hope that more good Chinese books can be imported in the future.

There were many desks and seats available in the library. There was even a quite area where you could expect a high quality working environment. Parking was also pretty easy. The only reason I didn t give it a five star was that the restroom right next to the entrance was a little bit smelly even though it seemed clean.

Nice and quiet clean and comfortable
Libary

Took my 1.5 year old to this place. Staff was very friendly. Great corner for kids to have some fun with play toys on the wall. Looking forward to going back there soon.

This is a great local library. They have great selection in every section and the staff have always been very helpful.

Highly recommend Make Her program for moms and daughters. Thanks for organizing a Maker Space for girls!

Clean. Quiet. Not too crowded. Bigger than it looks from the outside.

Love this library! Always busy and people working there for the most part are friendly! It's hard to get a new movie since you cannot put it on hold. Overall, we love coming here almost every day!

Suitable for children of all ages and adults, there are many Chinese magazines and books.

Just started going to this place recently and i love it already!

This is the only library in the whole entire city. Because of that, it can be crowded at times. It has a very good selection of books, newspapers, magazines, DVD, video and computer games, and lots of computers. It even has a section where it is a quiet area. They have a business section, where you can find information whether you are an entrepreneur or are looking for company research.

The only downside is that there are many people who spend their day here, especially during the weekday. Especially the homeless, who are forced to find places to stay warm during the day when there are not allowed to be at the homeless shelter. There should be signs that states that they are welcome as long as they mess with things. And absolutely no sleeping.

I was a member of this library, but never found it much use as they did not have what I wanted (a no-no). Also, I needed another place to access the Internet when the NOVA Job Center was full of job seekers and that there was a long wait. I let my library membership expired, due to the fact that I never borrowed a thing and due to the reason that I stated above.

Overall great library. Friendly and helpful staff, good selection, calm ambiance, ample sitting area, and a number of other services related to its primary goal. Only downside is iffy parking, but that s the only negative I can think of

This is an amazing library with nice workers and tons of books. There are many different places for different ages such at teens adults and special silent areas for studying. There is a great verity of books in different languages. There are also many desks and computer for use and they have bottle fillers with cold water. My only complaints is that sometimes it is to cold for comfort, it takes to long to get a book once on hold compared to other library's and their selection of audio book could be bigger. But they do have many movies you can check out and puzzles to do when you are board.

My son loves being here. Friendly staff and good collection

Great place to study / work, until you run out of battery (very few power outlets)

They have a good system in place for library card holders to make it easy to pick up books with social distancing in place

Great selection of books, DVDs, audiobooks, computers, and lots of availsble parking.

I just found 'Humans are underrated' and it is about Watson too. Let's see if I have a chance to get the idea how it gives the result or answer.

Librarians are so friendly! It is a pleasure to chat.

More than anything else this place has good collection of books, both scince and non science and some good relavent engineering books. I am going to donate some of my books that I am not in need to keep the place even richer

Good place to do work but Bathrooms are not great and although the wifi works fine I believe they recently setup some kind of firewall which prevents me from using VPN properly. It might be nice if there were some private meeting room that can be used sometimes (like at MV)

The library offers great opportunities for teen volunteers to complete community service. From organizer to coordinators, they conduct the volunteering business by ethical codes.

Very nice library, very friendly staff. They have a good selection, but some sections of the library don't get as much attention as they should.

Wonderful staff, great selection, not very comfy to sit and read a book

Not a friendly library. Very good at taking fines but not good at making patrons feel that library is for them. Staff favor friends and strict to others.

Great place to focus and get things done. Free Wifi is good for working too. There is a play area in the kid section.

I moved from Mountain View to Sunnyvale a few months ago and have quickly grown to adore the Sunnyvale Library. I really appreciate the variety of online services as well, including access to technical books. They also do an amazing job in supporting *all* members of a community in which English is often not the primary language spoken at home.

Dont let u use computer unless you become member to pay. Its not for public. They are there to make money.

An excellent library with great staff. From books, music to online resources a fantastic library serving all needs.

A great library for studying, surfing the web, printing papers, or for a quiet place to read. Lots of parking, have always found open seats and friendly staff.

An amazing library with bazillion options to read.. people in the front desk are super friendly. This library is truly a blessing to the residents of Sunnyvale.

building is a bit old, hope the city has budget to renovate it.

Very well organized, friendly, digital and practice social distancing to keep everyone safe. Keep the great work to the community.

Very peaceful library. Sometimes there is someone singing and playing music over there. Sometimes there is story telling over there. Lots of books, computers with internet connection and printers and scanners over there.

The staff at the library really has gone out of their way to overcome the pandemic limitations. To best take advantage of the service, I encourage you to put your items on hold and then call ahead when you want to show up.

When I do these two things, I walk up, tell them I've arrived, and a few minutes later I walk away with my items. Meanwhile many others are waiting for the staff to find their items. Come prepared!

One other tip is to check the hours. They been in flux recently. I hope your experience is as positive as mine.

Quiet and clean library with a large children's section. There are also several shelves of Chinese collection.

Great library-lots of material
Plus, the family, teen, kids, holiday celebration programs are wonderfully done too.

Wow! I had forgot how good it feels to be in a library! Do yourself a favor and check this library. (Or lots of other libraries in this area)
Pros:
+Very friendly and helpful staff! I was waiting to get the new card, one of the other staff left her desk and came to me to ask if I need help!
+Two bookshelves of Persian books! (Of course if you know how to read Farsi) I didn't really expect this one. (They have lots of book in mandarin and I saw some books in Hindi too)
+ Lots of space to sit and do you work with outlets.
+ One of the staff was helping a customer in fluent Mandarin.
+ DVDs! Lots of DVDs and Movies!
+ Free membership
+ Even they gave me a swag! (If you have moved recently to Sunnyvale!)
+ Long working hours (till 9 pm in weekdays)
+ Decent internet speed!
Cons:
- It is not as clean as or as modern as nearby libraries. Some of them are much better in that aspect.
Other things to consider:
- Yes, on average, it has much more homeless people in the library in comparison to other libraries in the area. Yes, some people may have unpleasant smell or problems in that regard. However, they are all friendly, and I think they have right to use the library as much as any other person has.

I really like this simple red brick building and space design, suitable for parents and children to enjoy reading good times!

Excellent library with a nice quiet adults section, a nice selection for teens, and a play area for the little ones and great service.

This review is for the childen's section. The children's book section is large with plenty of selections and a nice reading and play area. The place is usually quiet and not crowded. My kids enjoy coming here.

Friendly staff make up for the interior. One of the least appealing south bay libraries.

I love this library. Great book selection, good internet connection, lots of DVDs and BluRay movies to choose from. Really interesting programs and speaker series. They always have used book sales at the front of the place, which is nice - and lots of books/cookbooks/kid's books/etc. to choose from. State-of-the-art checkout and return system.

I seriously love this place. Great book selection, super easy DIY check out and return process, helpful staff, and fantastic online resources. I mean...free books and eBooks! What's not to love?

Quiet, and good for the kids to learn reverence somewhere besides just at church lol

Lovely little library, super helpful staff, and good community programs. My only gripe is that it is relatively small. Not that its small size is particularly limiting with inter-library loans. As long as you can wait for the book to be delivered, and can live with the LINK+ constraints (e.g., limited/constrained renewals).

I'm 61 and have loved libraries my whole life. I have high blood pressure & my ankles swell. I've been in Sunnyvale for a couple of weeks now & plan on being here for a while longer. I spend much of my time at the library online. I need to put my feet up occasionally, yet twice now the same person has made a point of making me put my shoes on Flip flops, so I don't get hurt & take my feet off of anything other than the floor. It causes me undo pain as I'm short & my feet tend to dangle from most chairs. I never go into anyone's home and put my feet up unless I know it's OK. But if the library is ours to use why shouldn't we be comfortable in it? I don't walk without my shoes just sit. I don't feel this library is friendly to those it serves & it's employees are employed by those of us who use it, so maybe the library could adjust or make some arrangement to put in foot stools or conveniences for those of us who, while not in a wheel chair still have limitations. I feel like the public is NOT a priority at this library & I've been to many who are not so uptight they can't have empathy for people. I will be writing the local news papers too.

What a wonderful library! Nice kids' books selection (haven't explored the adults' section so much yet), including some foreign language children's books (I noticed Spanish, Japanese, Korean, Chinese, and Russian, among others). And so many community-oriented events. Very impressed.

Good facility. They can get lots of books for you from other libraries using the Link+ system.