Chatswood Library

So disappointing went to sit on the ground because there were no seats available and immediately staff asked to move away and it was just a normal spot in a corner. Then staff asked to put away drinks so disappointing because water is essential to life so they were suggesting for me to not be able to drink water. Librarians were rude in such a big library I wished the librarians wouldn’t be that rude. This made my day worst.

It's really spacious inside with lots of seating for study sessions and for even just sitting down. They have got a large collection of books from a variety of genres from which are not usually found in other libraries

"Nothing is pleasanter to me than exploring in a library. "
(Walter Savage Landor)

It's time to go to the library. The rules are simple: It is presumably a quiet place to study. You have seen the flaws in definitions, but what you have not seen is the extent some people will go to redefine them. Well, what you usually encounter at Chatswood Library is:

• Students bored at home who come to mingle with friends and talk
• Seniors coming with grandchildren to entertain them
• Seasonal visitors: If the weather gets too hot or cold, people come there for a moderate place to stay
• Few actually looking for books and using the library

Bonuses:

• There is a kindergarten at the corner of the library. Yes. It's unbelievable, but it exists. I assure you, kids are always quiet!
• There is a shabby maniac guy with long hair coming randomly talking with himself in the library. Keep focusing. It's not a big deal!
• If you just sit at the entrance bench, you get pycho every time someone interacts with returning items as the machine announces loudly that can be heard from 10km away.
•
Be prepared for a random alarm going off.

"Embrace the wonder. ”
(Lynette Noni)

Get there early if you don’t wanna sit on the floor and a lot of teenagers go there to hang out so it’s a little noisy in some areas

We tried to book a room but when we went to go sit down (2 hours later) they told us that the room was doubled booked. Understandable but they acted like it was our fault and didn’t even apologise. They finally gave us a room but said that we had to share it with another person inside because it was open to the public (the person left soon). 30 minutes before closing time, they told us that we had only booked the room until 4: 30 and that we had to leave now which makes no sense because they said it was public so bookings shouldn’t really matter in this case. Even if it did, there was no other booking for the room so telling us to ‘pack up and leave’ (verbatim) was unnecessary). Overall, their behaviour and attitude of the manager Susan was extremely negative and disrespectful.

One of the best libraries in Sydney. The architect did a great job bringing in the natural light to the library in the basement level and added the water feature to soften the concrete modern building. In the evening the library was full of high school students studying and there was some photography lighting class going on. This library looked like it is being used to its fullest potential when others are closing down in this time and age of digital era.

There are occasional events in the open space outside, and these days are concerts. 18: 00-19: 30, very exciting.

Best place to study, however, the Wi-Fi is really really bad because too many people are using it, hopefully it can get fixed.

Great Library in general, good space and design with plenty of seats which can get busy. However noticed it is really difficult to find charging stations or power points unless you are lucky enough to get a seat next to the walls. Power points in the middle of the large tables, underneath or on the floor should be installed like other library spaces. Also found it frustrating when trying to find a seat many people leave their belongings and leave for a long period of time reserving their spot while others aren't able to find a spot and HS students make it obnoxiously loud. Should be a sign on tables or walls to not leave space unattended with belongings to reserve spots for respect of others to find seats. In general an aesthetically pleasing library, just charging stations would improve it alot and a rule in place to not leave and reserve spots for a long time - as for HS students it's understandable and not a big fuss but would like to see staff just keep notice and inform students to just keep it down a notch, I understand it's a public space and some conversational noise is tolerable but not to an extent where students make the library just a hangout and be loud irrespective of the environment

Yes, the library is large and yes, there are many tables to study at, however, it is almost ALWAYS full and you can almost NEVER get a table. I would not recommend going here to study due to how busy it is, but it's not the library's fault that it's a Sydney favourite.

An amazing place to study for students and it is like heaven for book readers. They have books on about every topic, and they also have services available for printing and photocopying. Staff is always friendly and helpful, a great place for kids to build a reading habit.

We grew up reading books in the isles of this gorgeous library. It has been through so many changes since I was little but it still has the same feel, a safe comfortable space to take time out from everything, to read, learn and find out more about the happenings in your local community. It's so important that libraries like this one still continue to thrive as they are wonderful havens of knowledge and peace for many generations of children and families.

It is an Australian library, but it seemed like a service for Chinese people. As we know, in the Chatswood area, where many Asian nationals live and work. Some librarians and staff are bilingual, they speak and behave unmannered. Unlike Western countries, the attitude of Australian residents is inattentive.

Wonderful atmosphere to read and learn.
Can be crowded at times, but everything is orderly.

The staff and facilities are great but lets be honest, this isn't a library its a zoo for high school kids.

Nice staff. Printing facilities are dated; requires USB (v1) to scan rather than email forwarding. This doesn’t seem to read all USBs which is more irritating, they don’t keep them onsite for you to transfer scans to PC then return either. Colour printing is too expensive. Otherwise good.

For the most part, a great library. At times, however, fellow HS students have been obnoxiously loud which I rightfully find unacceptable seeing as this is a library, not a social hangout spot. Seating is sufficient, and it is great that the study desks are far away from the children's area. Though many a time people leave their belongings on the tables and leave for a period of time, which as you can imagine is ever so vexatious.

This library has wonderful staff that are very helpful should you need their assistance. The only thing this library needs is an arrangement of single study cubicles; situated in the southern/eastern area; this would help with the major influx of students studying at this library and help utilise more Of the floor space.
Hence the four star rating

Nice ambience but not enough sunlight. After all it is underground. School kids can be very loud but as a whole a decent library

Lack of rules surrounding leaving personal belongings at desks means that finding a place to sit and study is nigh impossible.arriving only 40 minutes after opening, every table was taken, with each person simply leaving all of their stuff as they left for lunch or to shop.

A shame as normally it is an excellent place to study.