Corby Library

Fantastic service, good customer service. The young man who works there is super fast and has some amazing skills. Vry comfortable and clean.

I can understand why some people don't like this library. Some reviewers say it's cold and the staff are unfriendly and this reflects their experience. My experience is exactly the opposite. To me this library is one of the best I've seen in the UK; only Liverpool City Library is better but that one is too busy. I went straight for a place where I could use my laptop and only spoke to two members of staff, and they were perfectly helpful and polite. It's also a perfect winter day so I'm blessed with sharp sunlight, which brings out the angles on the modern structure (the Cube) which encloses the library. It's a bold new design that is unusual in England where you rarely get new design outside of the financial part of London. Most British libraries are old/renovated or new but copied from some old design that has been used all over the country. Corby library design is unique and hopefully my photos reflect this. The inside of the library does look more like a Berlin gallery than a library in the Midlands so, again, I know where the criticisms come from. But, for me it works so well. There's a historical angle I'm really interested in: Corby was a mono-industrial town with a workforce that had been imported from Glasgow. When the steelworks closed unemployement soared and the town was essentially gutted. But, as often happens in these cases, something had to be done. I don't know exactly what happened but I can tell you what this town looks like when you drive into it: superb. There is a forest of new trees on the outskirt and the buildings look like they're in some sort of 1970s museum. Lots of parkland in the centre (I wonder if that's where the steelworks were?) -- and in the middle of it all is the Cube and the Pool, which is housed in another superbly designed building. I came here from about 40 miles away, just to seen a town I'd heard was a dive and what do I find but a library to beat all others. I love it and will spend the rest of the day in my superb little alcove which faces the forest and blue sky.

More like a corridor With books that you walk past to pay your council tax. Loud, cold. Rather sad environment.

Noisy environment. More like a playground. Members of staff themselves are loud and have no regard for its users. Management needs replacing or at the very least training.

Nice place