Recent Comments
What others have said about the library, its services, resources and staff.
“No "sign in" or "log in" link...”
“There is no "sign in" or "log in" link on the main page of the library site. You have to keep clicking on links until "log in" comes up. If you click on "Account Help" it does not offer a live link but only a demo of how to log in (with no suggested path to find the location to log in).”
— Dave P., August 2012
“Why can’t I login to my account to request and renew books at the main page? Please put a link to the login so it is easier to do. Also a link back to the websites main page from the Library Catalog section would be nice.”
— John S., July 2012
We hear you! In response to your requests, we’ve added a “Log In” link on all KPL web pages (top center) to provide direct access to patron accounts in our new online catalog. Users can always return to the main library website from the catalog by clicking the KPL logo at the top of any catalog page. We appreciate your patience and suggestions as we work through the catalog upgrade process!
“The new online catalog is a great improvement.”
“The new online catalog is a great improvement. I just used it for the first time. It loads searches quickly and the searches are much faster and more accurate than with the old one. Lots more information at your fingertips. And it lists all the copies and their status (hold or due date) so you have some idea of how soon you can get a book. And more. I love my library! Thanks for all you do.”
— Pamela R., July 2012
“...so many website resources.”
“I really liked how I could borrow and order books online. I liked that there were so many website resources. This is one of my favorite local Librarys!”
— Spencer M., January 2012
“...send patrons' MelCat books to the branch libraries ...”
“The one thing that I wish that the library would do is make it possible to send patrons' MelCat books to the branch libraries if they request it. I really enjoy being able to pick up my other KPL holds at Washington Square; and it would be wonderful to pick up my MelCat books there as well. Thanks!”
— Midgie B., January 2012
“It made me so happy...”
“It made me so happy that my library (the Washington Square location) was open on Friday. I got to get my book for the long (and very snowy) weekend!”
— Ellen C., January 2012
“...our excellent library...”
“I just had a delightful chat with a patron who brought me the hard copy of a recent New York Times article (about eBook lending). Particularly enjoyable: he says our excellent library is his primary motivation for staying in Kalamazoo.”
— Eleanore C., KPL Library Associate, December 2011
“...very nice and helpful staff.”
“Thank you sooo much for the wonderful space for our meeting. You really have a beautiful place and very nice and helpful staff.”
— Kim N., December 2011
“...excellent indeed!”
“The Kalamazoo Public Library has two excellent online articles about downtown Kalamazoo, “The Dilemma of Downtown Parking” [and] “From Wheels to Heels: The Mall City.” —they are a nice addition, and are excellent indeed!”
— Pat M., August 2011
“You’ve done an excellent job.”
“It’s great now, the Genealogical section is so much easier to work through. You’ve done an excellent job.”
— Tony S., March 2011
“Informative and comfortable learning environment...”
“I just wanted to thank you for the informative and comfortable learning environment provided at the Intro to Geneology Class last Friday morning. Thank you very much!! I look forward to any other of those types of classes in the future.”
— A. P., February 2011
“Ease of use...”
“Since moving away from Michigan, I have missed my KPL. One of the things I enjoyed most was the information, ease of use, and appealing and clean “look” of the website.”
— D. S., February 2011
“...takes an extra step to get the information I need!”
“Sam always has a smile on his face. Very polite, and takes an extra step to get the information I need! Sam is truly a great asset to the KPL!”
— patron comment, February 2011
“Always polite...”
“Karl is always polite and makes sure I understand how to work the computer.”
— patron comment, January 2011
“Always helpful...”
“Bill has always been helpful, as all of the staff is. Bill is distinguished from other staff members by his willingness to be engaging with my family (children included). As the programming director he has also done a wonderful job of organizing events that encourage entire families to attend. These events have caused my own family to spend more time at the library than our normal weekly visit. Bill has been quick to make suggestions or give advice when asked. It is my opinion that his enthusiasm, patron service, and programming accomplishments ought to be recognized.”
— patron comment, December 2010
“Very kind, patient and friendly.”
“I was doing a paper on Baptism and Matt was very kind in helping me to find the books I needed. He made sure I knew how to tell the difference in reference books and books I could check out! Very kind, patient and friendly. We need more ‘Matts’ in the world!”
— patron comment, December 2010
“...a model for what can be done for other communities.”
“...you’ve performed a great service in putting together a fine and informative website. This is a model for what can be done for other communities. I applaud you.”
—Edward A. Berlin, October 2010
“Thank you for chosing great employees!”
“I was helped by Stewart Fritz. He was knowledgeable about lots of the items that I had questions about and was very helpful in finding new materials. He found the answers when he didn’t know them, and was patient while doing so. A big thank you for chosing great employees!”
— patron comment, September 2010
“...the Law Library has been invaluable to me.”
“Matt’s help in the Law Library has been invaluable to me. He is so very helpful and has directly made my life easier and saved me money by helping me navigate the Law Library and find what I am looking for. I have been helped by so many of the good folks at KPL over the years and it is good to see someone young and new to the staff carry that good service on.”
— patron comment, September 2010
“...very helpful and patient with children...”
“Bill and Amy are both wonderful assets to the library. They are both very helpful and patient with children and both really seem to enjoy being at the library which makes a difference for the interaction with her children.”
— patron comment, September 2010
“...how WONDERFUL the KPL has been...”
“I am VERY pleased to let you know how WONDERFUL the KPL has been for me to utilize while sorting out a legal matter! Not only was the LAW LIBRARY helpful, they saved me what could have without a doubt cost me THOUSANDS of dollars in attorneys fees filling out proper forms and ensuring all was in order. I certainly could not have been able to afford that and would have simply had to resign my rights in this case and it would have been at a GREAT loss to me!”
— patron comment, August 2010
“Unbelievably Great Service!”
“Mr. David DeVries was a VERY helpful aspect in my process in providing his Notary services. That also saved me not only time due to the convenience of him being here at the library, but also the lack of FEE typically imposed by notaries in general. VERY IMPRESSED by the professionalism!”
— patron comment, August 2010
“...above and beyond normal standards of customer service...”
“I wanted to share my extraordinary gratitude with you as one of your employees, Vikender Jaglan went above and beyond normal standards of customer service and provided me tremendous assistance with a technical problem I was experiencing yesterday.”
— patron comment, July 2010
“Gazette index is fabulous”
“Hi KPL! Your Gazette index is fabulous-- thank you so much for making this index available on your web site.”
— Katie M, February 2010
“Love your website!”
“Some websites are so hard to navigate around - thanks for making it easy.”
— CEC, December 2009
“phone friendly”
“While at a Christmas play we had a discussion about a book and I was able to search your catalog using my phone and found the answer. Thanks for making your catalog phone friendly.”
— George H, December 2009
“...my favorite place...”
“The Library is my favorite place to be in this city!!!”
— LF, November 2009
“fabulous book”
“Thank you for purchasing this fabulous book. My, but I so enjoyed reading it, and seeing the lovely Wedgwood dishes.”
— Barb D., November 2009
“MeLCat”
“I love that you puchase new books for patron requests if you don’t have them! I also appreciate the MELCAT service but it is not convenient if the requested item is checked out, since a reserve cannot be placed on it. I appreciate being able to reserve an item.”
— library patron, November 2009
“Unbreakable cards...”
Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! We [love] the Library! The unbreakable cards on the keychain!!
— library patron, November 2009
“...friendly and helpful...”
Karl at the Audio/Visual desk was fantastic and VERY knowledgable. Jill at circulation desk was friendly and helpful as well.
— library patron, November 2009
“renewal process”
This [online materials renewal process] service is so very cool. Thank you.
— Dana K, November 2009
“...good service...”
"I felt I had good service while I was looking for a book.
— Yaressy age 10, Jackie age 7, November 2009
“...able to renew online!”
Thank you for the notice - AND - thank you for the good directions available - I was able, for the first time, to renew on line!
— Karl S, October 2009
“I love this Library”
“I love this Library. We come here with the kids every week!”
— library patron, October 2009
“...easy to obtain a library card.”
“I’m a new resident of Kalamazoo and found it easy to obtain a library card. Thanks and good work.”
— library patron, October 2009
“Respect and help”
“They treat me nice and respect me and help me understand things.”
— library patron, October 2009
“I love our library...”
“I love our library and the MeLCat service.”
— library patron, September 2009
“...staff are courteous and helpful.”
“I always enjoy visiting the library. All library staff are courteous and helpful. Tx!”
— library patron, September 2009
“I love the service!”
“I love the service! Very friendly staff is important and you’ve got it! Thank you!”
— library patron, September 2009
“...a Great Resource!”
“K Lib is a Great Resource! My family is crazy about it!”
— library patron, September 2009
“...always someone there to help me.”
“What I like about the library is that there’s always someone there to help me whether it’s Ms. Stephanie, Ms. Erica and/or Ms. Judy. And that likes having me here.”
— Powell branch patron, September 2009
“...inviting library set-up.”
“It's a very inviting library set-up.”
— library patron, September 2009
“Keep up the good work.”
“Whomever is doing the ordering for the teen section, especially the graphic novels, deserves a pat on the back and a merit badge! Keep up the good work.”
— Anon, August 2009
“...an entertaining and helpful program...”
“I am writing to compliment Jennifer Cornell for an entertaining and helpful program that my wife and I attended last week. We just became grandparents which these days heightens interest in digital photography. Jennifer faced a full class of widely dispersed competences in computer literacy and handled it with skill and good humor. We will certainly take another from her. Thank you.”
— Pat & Terry, July 2009
“...an important part of our family activities...”
“Please feel free to use [our] donation for books or programs or whatever is most needed. We’ll try to contribute again from time to time. We feel fortunate to have such a great library system in our community and we visit often. It’s an important part of our family activities and has been the source of great reading, learning, and fun. Thanks for the great services you all provide..”
— Bob, July 2009
“...a treasure to our community.”
“Kudos to the Kalamazoo Public Library... for keeping local events so well covered. Your support of local music and events is a treasure to our community.”
— Bill, July 2009
“Thank you for fragrance free restrooms!!”
“Thank you for the fragrance free public restrooms!! I am allergic to fragrances. This place always looks good.”
— Oshtemo Patron, July 2009
In response, Ernie Clemence, head of Facilities Management notes, “We’ve eliminated all odor masking chemicals from our FM supply inventory. We’re not using them anymore, as part of our environmental compliance plan.”
“I’m so proud of our library!”
“Just wanted you to know I think the new [Friends Bookstore] buy online feature is absolutely great! I'm so proud of our library! Just when I think you guys are just about perfect, you find another way to improve.”
— Donna, June 2009
“...some exciting things going on there!”
“I’m very impressed with the new site! I think KPL has done a fine job of presenting helpful information in a format that puts Web 2.0 technologies to use. The interactive blog format—along with staff bios and pictures—really gives the website a personal feel. Sounds like there are some exciting things going on there!”
— Matt, July 2008
“...the ‘everybody place’”
“Thank you! I wish the rest of the world were like the Kalamazoo Public Library (the ‘everybody place’— to this I add ‘where everybody is a friend!’).”
— Karl, September 2007
“...a milestone”
“One parent at a recent ‘Read to Rover’ session commented that two of her children had been adopted from an orphanage where there were guard dogs, and the kids were not comfortable around dogs. So when they both read to the dog, she felt it was a milestone for them in helping to overcome their fear of dogs. She thanked us for providing the opportunity.”
— Nancy (KPL staff), July 2007
“...a totally different online vibe”
“Congrats on the genealogy page. It looks fantastic. You folks at KPL have a totally different online vibe from, say, academic libraries. And I love it.”
— Michael Whang, WMU Libraries webmaster, January 2009
“I really appreciate the breadth of programming ...”
“ I wanted to share with you how much I enjoyed the ‘P is for Paper’ program last evening at the Kalamazoo Public Library. Jessica, the instructor, did a wonderful job of reinvigorating my creative side. I really appreciate the breadth of programming at KPL and am always excited when the next Link newsletter comes out to see what the next quarter brings. Thank you for all you do for the Kalamazoo community!”
— Callie, 2008