West Hampstead Library

Staff were rude from the moment I walked in. Kept insinuating, that I was not willing to pay the charge to use the printer which I found strange. I think because of the way I was dressed they assumed I couldn't afford it, or would be difficult about the charge, which is unfair to just assume.

They then out the blue charged me a further pound for printing because "I'm not a member", I am a member and have been for about 4 years now. I was fine with this as I was in a rush, but the librarian was being extremely difficult about it all, and although there was a computer free, he made me wait 30 minutes to use a different computer. As I did not feel comfortable sitting in the library due to the dirty looks I was receiving from the staff, I wound up having to hang around the on main road for 30 minutes until I was allowed to use the computers. I get the impression the librarian was just trying to get rid of me.

As I had to scan and email a contract for my work, I asked the women where the scanner icon was, because they put it in an odd place. She began getting extremely stressed out by this, and her lack of understanding of very basic computing became clear. The person next to me told the women, that it should perhaps be on the desktop so it is more clear. In response to this she snapped at the gentleman, telling him that it's easy to navigate, who had to politely rise above it and ignore her (I work with computers all the time, so if I could not find it, there was clearly an issue, but this women was not interested and was acting very aggressive about the whole thing when I mentioned that to her). As she was telling me what to click she was aggressively pointing exactly where to click, treating me like a child and being very rude. She told me to click something, which was incorrect, then started telling me that "I had messed it up".

The place has a very on edge feel. I get the impression that as a lot of the people who use this library are unemployed, and have little technical knowledge, as most are from a past generation, the staff use this to bully them. So after paying 2.80 just to print a 2 page contract (no colour), after sending it, my boss told me the contract was unreadable as it did not print properly. So the whole thing was a waste of time. It would have been far cheaper to go to an internet cafe, and I would be treated with far more respect, and actually be able to send something which is readable.

I will not be using this library again after living in West End lane for almost 5 years now and the council needs to seriously investigate this place and the way the staff treat people.

Lovely old building at the bus stop. Lift to downstairs children’s book lounge. Good wifi. Nice staff. Upscale area with great restaurants.

Library is pretty small for adults, but they have a great selection of books for children. Our daughter is very pleased to discover new stories every other week. It’s been very easy to subscribe, and the staff there is always helpful.

Staff on this library doesn’t know what quiet voices means. They keep shouting to each other from side to side, and chatting. Incredible lack of respect for the people who are here studying or reading. You can only hear the staff talking, louder than the children. On the top, library is supposed to close at 5 on Fridays. At 4:30, they are already telling you you need to go.

Lovely library. I used to go there as a child with my grandparents. I hope that it'll continue to remain open.

Since they have their new manager who thinks that he owns the library, who is arrogant and rude they would loose a lot of their members.

Small library with plenty of books and only 4 tables to use for personal laptop/reading. I recommend arriving at the 11am opening to secure a table!
There are I would estimate 6 or so desktop computers that are free to use for up to 4 hours.
The staff was very nice though they do speak quite loudly. In such a small space I would recommend headphones or earplugs!

Although there is a lot of complaining about noise, which is not how you'd expect a library to be, there is a children's section, and children are noisy when they are young. The building is very child-friendly, with a large assortment of children's books and things for them to do. If you prefer silence, the upstairs area is usually quiet.