Downtown Branch - Chattanooga Public Library

Lots of services, good collection of books and local historical records. They have four floors, bottom floor has a general book collection, the second floor is dedicated to kids, the third floor contains their historical records mostly about Tennessee, the fourth floor has studio equipment, 3D printers, sewing machines, shirt embroidery, wood embroidery and a sticker maker. Lots to offer for anyone looking to relax or work on a project. Also, check out Shush their in house Café, help support the library! With great staff that are very helpful and knowledgeable.

They have a 3D printer! It was really neat to visit the maker floor for the first time and the price to make a 3D-printed object was really affordable!

My little guy LOVES going to this library! The children's section is huge and full of fun things to do. And the staff are so helpful and friendly! We don't live within the city limits, but $50 per year is a steal since they always have new books.

I recently had the pleasure of interacting with Zandria at the Chattanooga Public Library over the phone to set up my library card, and I was absolutely blown away by her exceptional service! She was incredibly helpful, walking me through the entire process with clarity and professionalism. Zandria went above and beyond to ensure I had everything I needed. Her friendly demeanor and willingness to assist made the whole experience a breeze. Thank you, Zandria, for your outstanding support! You’re an asset to the library.

This large public space offers a variety of activities for young and old including a makers floor for diy crafts, passport services, and reading tutors

THE BEST LIBRARY I HAVE EVER IN MY LIFE BEEN TO!!!! IF I HAD MORE TIME I WOULD STAY ALL DAY!!! the staff is amazing and I can’t say enough about the 4th floor!!! What an amazing experience! Thank you to the entire staff!!!

No study areas. The quiet floor (#3) has power tools running. The 'public' garage makes you drive up 5 floors to park, first 4 are reserved for local businesses. But hey, it has a passport office!

I commend the library on its outreach to all citizens and offering innovative programs. I especially enjoy the Library BookChat hosted by Miss Allie. Special shoutout to Miss Beckie who keeps order and makes everyone welcomed.

Second office for the day, this is a huge structure. I had choices for where to set up in a quiet place. For such a big library, it was interesting how few people I saw in the stacks. Free wifi, comfortable seating, power outlets. A great setup. And yes, the library has books, reference, research, periodicals, media and all sorts of other great stuff for residents. [Review 18803 overall - 339 in Tennessee - 2326 of 2022.]

The lady that assisted me was very helpful and knowledgeable. She explained the process and gave me two options. She understood my circumstances. She also provided their hours of operation and parking.

Not free for everyone in the county. Only Chattanooga residents may access the library for free. Benjamin Franklin would be ashamed, as am I. You would think they would want to encourage everyone to read for free.

My first time coming here. I'm a student trying to do some school work. First of all, the place is built like a warehouse, with barely any walls blocking any noise. This woman named Jenifer, on the 3rd floor, is one of the rudest and unprofessional people I've met. I'm sitting there minding my own business listening to music with earbuds on, when she comes over to me and knocks on the table aggressively next to my computer. I have a WATER BOTTLE out on the table. I did not know you can't have WATER in the library, but since that's the rules, that's fair. All she had to do was come up in front of me and politely introduce herself and explain you can't have anything out. She told me I have to "leave or go somewhere else" if I'm going to have it out. Didn't even politely ask me to put it up. Then she acts like she's not being disrespectful when I ask her to talk to me like an adult. Pushing 50 and not knowing how to properly talk like an adult to people is crazy. On top of everything, you have to PAY for parking. I would not suggest going here if you're a student or anyone trying to get some work done. If you do, don't go to the 3rd floor or bring any water because god forbid if you do, Jenifer will be lurking ready to tell you to leave. Moral of the story, I understand there's rules, but having water out on a table is not that deep. Politely ask me to put it away. If you want to be treated like a kid that just got in trouble, then this is the place for you!!!

Inside the downtown public library's typical looking concrete building, there's a modernly decorated cafe offering tea and coffee, colorful flags above the main floor's shelves of CDs and DVDs, art therapy classes, a seed exchange, computers for public use, and cooking classes. It's still quiet mostly on the first floor. Many classes are held upstairs. I stopped in today during my lunch break to see what it's like these days and renew my membership. The library offers so much more than just books now! And there are specific book sections that highlight some specific themes like Black History Month. The staff are friendly and helpful too. For parking, there are still only two options though, metered or pay by the hour in the parking lot across the street. Definitely worth it.

Perhaps this is a little kept secret, but the library has the the best priced coffee / lattes in town! The coffee is from a local roaster (The Mad Priest currently) and you can get a beverage for $1-$3 depending. The first time in, the man at the front was kind, helpful and he explained all of the offerings the library had including: sewing machine rentals, 3D printing, access to Rosetta Stone, a podcasting station, a seed bank, audio books, DVDs, hardware checkout for those projects that you don't want to spend a fortune on (like a pressure washer) and so much more. I was astonished!! The furnishings and building itself are a bit dated, but isn't a library meant to feel familiar and nostalgic? There's something comforting about the way it's remained unchanged to me. If you're a Chattanooga city resident, do yourself a favor a register for a free library card.

These librarians are SO NICE! It's not the coziest library, at least on the bottom floor, but they can get anything you want to rent even if it's at a different location. Plus you can get a free coffee for your birthday

It's a library. What kind of ratings would influence anyone to utilize it or not? Books. Audible books. Online books. Movies. Probably some magazines and newspapers, but I didn't check that stuff out. Library-ish stuff.

The 4th Floor at the library is a magical place full of interesting things to do. There are 3D printers, meeting space, a place to take classes, etc. It's an educational area with focus on info, design, applied arts and technology. I had heard of the mysterious 4th floor but hadn't been there before. I had a meeting there and was in awe of how big of an area it is and that people were using the space to do art projects, meetings, classes, mixed media projects, and so much more. What a great resource area for people to use as a work space. I was impressed.

So, here it is, in bullet points (I'll spare you my Dewey Decimal System lecture): My update is for: When the temp inside is way hot, get a cup with ice so you can fill with water - $0.10 DVD selection of recent series to the likes of Parks And Recreation. You can find old school stuff like Weeds; ok and really old school stuff like . . . Rawhide. Etc. Checkouts are now 21 days for books (I got 10 today and plan to return by next Fri) and seven for dvds. City of Chatt residents get a card free of charge; good for a year, then you renew. Note: when you get a dvd, you check them out at a separate place from books because, y'know, they have a camera and don't want you to steal them. And- maybe kinda more cool than it being a good library- is that local teens are making structures of some sort right outside the entrance - like the Beluga whale version on display right now. Kinda cool, all around, for a small town and an old library.

A very impressive building and seems like a lot going on inside. My first visit was just wondering the shelves. Seems to be a nice, eclectic collection of books. I think the magazine and newspaper section is a little sparse. There is different activities on each floor which I didn't get to explore due to time constraints but may be worth exploring. There is a rather interesting collection of DVDs and audiobooks. They use HOOPLA, Overdrive and RBdigital for ebooks. Only real negative was the way temperature inside. Warm to the point of being uncomfortable.

My 20 yr old daughter went to the public library in downtown Chattanooga the other day and was treated very rudely by the front desk staff. She walked in to get a drink from the fountain and then wanted to go look around at books but got literally yelled at until she turned around and walked back out. Maybe they asked her a question and she didnt respond quick enough, I dont know, but to start yelling at her is crazy. She was holding a skateboard, is that illegal..NO its not. She wasnt skating and they treated her like an animal b/c of it. What has happened to our country? I suppose the staff were all raised by single parents who didnt have time to teach them any manners. Thats all I could come up with. Its a shame too b/c she's young and the library should be a welcoming and inviting place in order to encourage continual patronage but not after that stunt. I told her to never go back, find another library where the staff are polite and act normal.

Good selection, GREAT kids section. Lots of digital services (things for e-books and audiobook downloads). I haven't used the 4th floor services, but the fact that they have 3-d printers, a recording studio, etc is pretty sweet.

They are not open to 9pm as stated and were not helpful when I went in at 7:45.... The one lady that asked me if she could help me at the copier did so and wasted time so that when I had one last copy to make.... ONE COPY... The security asked me to leave with my 10 cents in the machine and not making my one last copy... If the lady who did not know how to use the copier had not wasted my time, I would have gotten what I needed. If the library closes at 8, I get it... Close at 8... But I was told when I came in the door that they would not issue me a library card because they had to count their till and if they didn't count it now they would not get out of here on time. Then you should close the freaking library at 7:45 so you can do whatever it is you need to do to get out of here on time. I got to my car and after turning the car on the clock said 8:01pm.... I surely hope I did not cause anyone that had to put up with me tonight a reason to not get much sleep. I hope that running me away from the copier BEFORE 8, helped you get home to get your beauty rest so you can come back to work tomorrow and be just as much of a bitch to someone else as you were to me cause to act that way AND be ugly would not be in your favor!