Hamburg Public Library - Hamburg, Pennsylvania

Richard K

It has been many years since I visited the Hamburg Public Library. Located in a stately old building the Hamburg Public library is part of the Berks County Library system. The library is located on North Third Street next to the borough hall and across from the post office. Hamburg needs a new building. This ancient structure is ready to be put out to pasture. The plumbers were there when I was there. There is a small computer room in the structure. Also there is a children’s reading room available. The library, when I was there, was very quiet. The residents of Hamburg seem to be more courteous because there was no loud talking. In Berks County, the library is THE place to yak. The Hamburg Public Library’s hours vary by the day. Here goes: Sundays are closed, Monday’s hours are 10-8; Tuesday and Thursday’s hours are from 12-8; Wednesday and Friday’s hours are from 10-5; and Saturday the hours are from 9 to 4 PM. There seemed to be no handicap entrance in the front of the building. One must climb some steps to the top where you are greeted by two heavy doors before reaching the library. I don’t know if there is another entrance for the handicapped patrons. I don’t recall seeing a parking lot. I parked on the street. There are no parking meters in Hamburg which is great.

Christine Roth

Always a great experience with an enthusiastic professional librarian there!

Mark Robinson

Fabulous small local library to bring kiddos and set up camp with a book. Lots of seating, parking and all in great architecture. Definitely recommend visiting this library. Staff are knowledgeable and helpful. Restroom available too.

Susie B

I love this Library. It feels like I am going into someone's home to borrow books. I love and miss the old staff since we have had a turnaround but I celebrate and enjoy and love the new staff! Wish they could have thrown a party when the positions turned over! Love to you all and thank you so much for all your help in the past and for the knowledge that you will help me in the future!

Lauren Meade

Favorite library I’ve visited over the years. The summer reading program had my kids begging to go every week last summer, and here we are in the spring and they are still hooked!

Samantha Fitz

The librarians do not greet you, no hello, no eye contact. When you hand them your keys politely, they toss them back on the counter. When you do need assistance, they seem bothered to have to help you. I have been here a handful of times, and evwey time, tge "service " is the same. Very displeased with this library.

Gretchen Hardy

Libraries, a Pillar of Democracy by Homespun (aka Gretchen Hardy)

Our County Bookmobile looked like a beached grey whale in my childhood cindered driveway. Every Tuesday, it was a magnet for neighbors who lined up to get a book. Its rib shelves were full of Nancy Drew, The Hardy Boys, how-to manuals, cook books, mysteries, biographies, poetry, atlases. Something for the very young and old, the questers, the curious. It rolled on four oversized Goodyears and was driven by Stan who stamped our cards and offered tips on best-reads.

Bookmobiles, like Stan, are long gone. Put out of business by computers, digitized Kindle kins, and amazing brick and mortar libraries. Now, offerings include much more than books. In addition to rows of computers, libraries have a cornucopia of choices: magazines, newspapers, framed paintings, CDs/DVDs, classes, speakers, documentaries, 3D printing, field trips, Book Clubs, tools and machines like drills, saws and sewing machines, language classes, travel sponsorship. Most offerings are free with a library card and your promise to return what’s borrowed.

I financed college as a photographer for JCPenney. Travelling throughout the US, I was away for extended periods. Lonely? Never. In every tiny town or metro city, I found a home at their library. To read. To listen to music. To chat with knowledgeable librarians.

In spite of enormous bounty, libraries are underused, understaffed by overwhelmed librarians, underfunded, and in decline.

Libraries were founded so that all people would have easy, open access to shared culture and knowledge. Are they relevant today? If one looks beyond what is loaned out, there are enormous reasons why libraries are hallowed and vital. They are cost free community builders, they bring intergenerational citizens together, they provide shelter and security, they educate, they instill the ethics of curiosity, responsibility and courtesy.

Go online and explore what library services are available state wide. Use your library card and register for online access. Create a request queue. That way, your desired trove will be ready for you on your weekly visit.

We love the 1903 Hamburg Library that was built with funds provided in part by the philanthropist Andrew Carnegie. The brick Romanesque Revival style entrance features a courtyard and square portico topped by an octagonal turret. Step through the massive oak front door into a rotunda and a world of discovery.

Every week, we bring home a bag of books, movies and other treasurers. Feels like I'm back in that grey whale and Stan is ready to stamp my card.

Raymond Atkinson

Great place it has many books and movies and the librarian is also very nice. Plus the library is also very quite like a library should be.