Brooklyn Public Library Employer Reviews

If you want to have volunteer experience, start of at the Brooklyn Public Library. You can't go wrong.

It's a cultural institution. The typical day would be interacting with the staff and patrons.

Overall, the library was a nice place to work with dedicated staff. Sometimes, my boss in the Volunteers office would go off her meds and it was hairy but that was at highly stressful periods.

Learned a lot about how to work in a bureucratic environment and it was helpful for my later jobs.

I cleaned the Human Resources Department nightly. A multicultural center in Brooklyn.

Even though i didnt work for money it was a great experince for me,

I was a part of a team, but there were times when I worked alone. And I liked that a lot.

The Library taught me so much about working with people of various ages and cultures. I taught basic computers to adults, resumes, toddler computers, did circulations desk checking in and out library items, and inserting and deleting new partons from the database, processing payments and helping with programs. Everyone there seemed to love to be at – more... work and enthusiasm is contagious! It was a wonderful place to work – less

Working in the teen time program in the library was hard but it was fun as well. I didn't get paid in money, but we were a family which was fine.Even though I wasn't paid I still had a good deal. No more late fees sounds good doesn't it. Whenever I had a late fee they got rid of it for me. The only teens time was just me and my friend at the time. The – more... others members were kids. These kids were a major pain in the neck. Some days they were sweet as candy the other I thought I was watching over monsters. But it was for a good cause. They came from bad homes. If it wasn't for the program those kids could have been on the street getting into trouble. All I can say is that this experience was very rewarding. It gave me an opportunity to give back to the community and to myself. – less

A typical day at work includes setting up computers for use for the patrons once we open; once we are open distribute laptops for use in the library. Instruct technology resource workshops for teens, adults and seniors: Computer Basics, Microsoft Office Suite, and Social Media. Provide customer service to patrons to collect information about problems – more... and lead users through diagnostic procedures to determine sources of error. Train staff on software and hardware usage. Provide reference assistance to patrons when needed. Recorded daily evaluations of programs for reporting and grant purposes. The hardest part I say of the day is setting up for the classes and the enjoyable part of the day is when the classes end and see that the patrons that have attended leave with a smile and tell me that they learned something new today. – less

One day I had to shelve a lot of books because there was no one on the floor until an hour later. I was thinking to myself how am I going to show my supervisor that I am shelving. So what I did was put two carts of books in order brought them on the floor, I shelved one and put one out for the public. When I was done shelving I went back to shelve the – more... other one. – less

It is the busiest branch in brooklyn right along with the Grand Army Plaza library branch. The most days that keeps me extremely busy was Fridays and Sundays, that is when the library is in full capacity and the hardest part of the job is trying to keep the aisles and shelves tidy so the are no accidents. The children section is the hardest place to – more... keep the area straight because the kids are running and throwing the books on the floor and our job is to make sure all of the book materials are off the floor. For the most part, Saturdays were more a calm and quiet day because there were less patrons there and I can easily do my job and enough time to tend to my section and make sure everything are in order. I enjoyed my co-workers, they made the job a little less stressful and fun to be around with and they had great personality. I enjoyed working at the library but my time was up and I was ready to move on challenging my experience to higher expectation. – less

This was my very first job starting at the age of 17 and I was able to keep up with the fast paced environment. Not only did I love the rush but it fit perfectly into my school schedule at the time and it was an environment where every one respected each other personally as well as their job duties. My co-workers and I in HR were actually considered – more... a family. I have two and half years of experience with clerical work as my position in a office that still has not left me. Alphabetizing folders dating back into the late 70's early 80's for employees with seniority at different library locations. I also handled in box and outbox notices, faxing, time sheets (signatures and hours bi- weekly), reviewed new employees credentials, sick notices, updated the computer system, and lastly temporarily stepped in for the front desk receptionist when she was out. LOVE LOVE LOVE this job and will hope to find another soon!!
(Was so great I received a big jump in salary) – less

working at the library was a great experience. I learned how to interact with all age groups and ethnicities.

I learned a lot with the company, received a promotion and loved working with the public. It's a high paced multitask kind of job. It's fun meeting people from all walks of life. Management is professional. It is what it is working within the public sector.

I learned so much and really feel this is where i acquired all my great professional skills.

I trained and supervise young people. Help to shape their work value and ethics. Priceless!

Learning to multitask. I had so much responsibilities: supervisor of fulltimers, parttimers, summer youths, book buddies and learning to manage different personality – more... archetype, while maintaining a high caliber of customer service. In addition to meeting report deadlines. While being a defacto counselor for the youths who i supervised along with the ones who patronize the library. I truly cut my teeth at the Library. – less

Nice place to work. Very relaxing and easy. No stress at all.

I loved this job, I was able to assist adult librarians, working as a lab assistants in delivering computer training programs and also assisting with the young children in after school.