Austin Central Library, Austin Public Library

Amazing world-class library

Beautiful views and great selection of books. Places where you are allowed to eat and read and work.

This may be the best library in the country!

Basically a homeless shelter.

Lived in Austin all my life and never visited here once, I happen to get reminded that this library was here by google maps. Decided to immediately visit here the following weekend and was not disappointed. Absolutely insane building. Took my kid to the second flood, has a center atrium and there are 2 sides; one for children and one for teens. If you have kids there’s a lot for them to do. There are computers to use, toys they can play with, and the books of course. Even outside seating if you want fresh air either on the top floor or any of the outside porches. A ton a seating areas and every floor with plenty of places to charge or plug in devices. Cafe Cream on the first floor if you need a beverage. There’s a dedicated area just to play board games. Again, insane library. The only thing I can complain about is you have to pay to park in the parking garage, which is expected for the downtown area but wish it wasn’t so.

Love going there, very peaceful environment. Staff is awesome, very nice and, helpful.

Free parking for the first hour. This library is beautiful. The 3rd floor children’s area has a huge chess set and several smaller ones. There are lots of seating options. Outdoor and indoor. The children’s area staff are so nice and welcoming. My son is excited to do the craft they offered. We took it to go. The teen area has laptops for four hours and a teen only designated space. The 6th floor has a very pretty outdoor seating area with views. There are walkable locations for food in the area. Including the cafe on site, which has lots of seating and a nice view. Trader Joe’s is a block away too. Great spot for locals and tourists.

The Austin Central library was once again a totally awesome place to relax, get some great Wi-Fi and read a superb selection of books! #Everyone is welcomed!!!

Innovation Lab is AWESOME!!!

Staff are just the best!

Thank you!!!

This is one of my favorite places in Austin. It’s beautiful, modern, accessible, and welcoming to all walks of life. The library selection is vast and checking out or holding books is super efficient. I wish more public libraries stood out like this one. My only gripe is that there are often months-long waits for popular books. It would be ideal if more copies were ordered so people can read them sooner! That being said, it looks like they do the work in terms of inspiring people to read more 😊 Thanks APL!

I love this library! 🤍

Austin continues to keep the dirtiest libraries I have ever seen out of the seven states I have lived in. The free wifi is good but I have gaged their internet and seen, online, offline, online, offline all day. Here is a problem, using tax payers money to pay full price for something they only get half of what they payed for. Therefore, nobody there cares enough to view that as a problem and should never be trusted with tax payers money.

Any library, for me, is like an adventure. This library is beautiful, full of light. Lots of places to sit and enjoy a book. The views from the top floor patio are amazing. There's a 3D printing lab! You can check out books, tools and so many other things!
Also Josh Campbell is the best. He should probably get a raise. 🩵

Great library, fun place to see in Austin

The library itself is gorgeous, but this place is a really expensive homeless shelter. Every corner of the place reeks of smoke and BO. I literally found myself covering my nose. The parking situation is atrocious with confusing signage that’s barely readable. It takes 30 minutes to find a place to park and another 30 mins to exit the garage. Additionally, for such a large library the selection of books was disappointing. Probably would not come here again.