West Ryde Library

Good facilities and books and space for group study but staff can be a bit hit and miss. Some good.

Normally this is one of best library I ever been but sometime those people just playing around inside library with loud voice. Or worse on the phone..
No librarian approached to them to ask them to lower their voices..
No proper signed in any area.. starting to makes me not to go library.. good luck with those people who won over me with ur fxxking voices..

The library facilities are great but the staff are in desperate need of training on being polite. Been here twice- once before for a paid activity, and the rudeness of the girl I put aside. Today I came again for a similar activity and mr. Ma$$$w was equally rude and impolite, if not more. People who walk in here, regardless of their skin colour, aren't at their mercy! I will not be booking in for any other activities at this venue again. I'll stick to other Ryde libraries where decent respectable staff are.

I love libraries. I’ve worked in many of them around Sydney and a few in country NSW but there is one problem may of them have I find REALLY alloying – policies which are only in librarians heads ie. no signs. eg. about talking, mobile phone use and eating.

Yesterday West Ryde library was packed. This library is all one space with no acoustic isolation anywhere separating any area from another. I needed a seat with a proper table to put my laptop on with power so I could conduct a phone conference. I sat in the only place suitable in the middle of the library and started my phone conference speaking as quietly as possible. After about 10 minutes a librarian came over and in normal conversational volume (not quietly like I was talking on the phone in consideration of the students) asked how long I would be talking for. Almost universally in libraries the staff act immune from consideration about their talking volume in areas people are studying in. She said it was a quiet study area. I asked her where the signs are. She said there aren’t any and there don’t need to be. I told her other libraries do the right thing and have signs eg. Pennant Hills library. She didn’t care. I told her I thought this was unreasonable. I asked her where I could go in the library and be on phone. She pointed to lounge chairs at the edge of the library which had a coffee tables near them – totally unsuitable.. Never the less I packed to move. As I was packing I asked her if anyone had complained – she was silent – obviously no one had. I was very uncomfortable on a 90 minute phone call trying to use laptop.
I’ve had similar conversations about lack of signage to communicate policy (and you only find out by getting told off) with Manly, Gordon and Tamworth libraries. They all agreed the only reasonable and sensible approach was for the library to set expectations with signs. They were all very concerned that their customers had a good experience and one way to achieve that is by clearly setting expectations..

I would check if their web site has any policy info but it’s dead.

Large open areas for study. Friendly and helpful librarians. Good opening hours.