University (Southend Central Library at The Forum)

Friendly helpful staff but poorly designed library, obviously aimed at students ... and not anyone over a certain age trying to browse the fiction books on the bottom 2 shelves unless they have excellent eyesight and super-mobility! The Victoria Ave library was far better in this respect.No parking either.

Very well resourced library. Helpful staff. Quiet and respectful patrons. I love and it feels good to be back there after the last two years...

Great access for wheelchair users although beware of the metal grating in the floor at the rear of the ground floor. It wheeled over it and it wasn't very secure.I love the fact that I can now reserve books online and pick up when notified and the quick drop off using the machines as you go in.The library is spacious and well staffed

The Forum as a name does not suggest library. If you were new in town and wanted to find the library the only indication is a small high signpost in the High Street saying Forum and no mention that it is in fact the Library. The book shelves are way too close together and there are not enough labels on the ends of book runs to indicate subject matter. There never seems to be anyone around to ask anything but the staff when you find them are generally lovely and are the ones that have been there a long time are the best. There are quite often very annoying students" mucking about making more noise than is usual which doesnt seem to be dealt with

Thank you Forum for your staff who are always so helpful with everything from booking scanners, to checking availability of books. The staff are always happy to help sort out the computers and photocopiers for visitors to the library. The foyer of this building still takes my breath away even though I have been using it for a while now! Always seating space and plenty of computers.

Fantastic gift shop here. The stock is really unusual and is also eco-friendly. I was particularly impressed by the greetings cards. Staff were friendly and helpful and I could not fault the service.

I'm disappointed that because I'm not a student there are books that I can't borrow. As someone who pays council tax I don't feel as if this library caters for my needs. I find the staff unfriendly and often reluctant to help. When I reserve books, quite often some of the books don't materialise and then the rest of my reservation list is cancelled without an explanation. Altogether I'm deeply disappointed with this library

Visited this place many times, I think my first time coming here was back in 2014/15.This library (or part of the building, I'll explain in a bit) is, let's say, split into various areas: Ground floor has Adult Fiction, a Gift Shop, Lecture Theatre, Reception Desk and Children's Fiction. First floor has Young Adult Fiction, Reference/Non-Fiction and a Computer Area. Further upstairs are rooms accessible only by staff/students of the Forum's nearby colleges, so is therefore not part of the Library.Anyways, the positives: This library is generally very clean (even the toilets are well maintained) and tidy. The gift shop, though pretty small, has a nice charm to it, from soft toys to Southend souvenirs, bags to bookmarks (see photo). And of course being a library, it's so easy being 'lost' in those bookshelves, skimming over each book spine and blurb and finding your next perfect read.Slight cons (though it can't really be helped): The periodicals (newspapers/magazines) section on the first floor is no longer existent, likely due to the recent pandemic. Also, around midday is when you'll see more college students in the library, which can get noisy at times. So if you want a quiet place to read during then, there's plenty of seating next to the Adult/Gift Shop section where students don't normally frequent, at least from my experience.Overall, this place is pretty much everything you'd expect from a library. We all need a perfect distraction from our busy lives, and this place pretty much provides that. So why not move away from that TV, phone or whatever and find a book to read for a while?

Love the forum, great space and lots going on. Is modern and open to all, I run a Crocheting and Knitting Group there for two years and I love it! Perfect location for everyone to meet, lifts for the elderly to, the staff are always very helpful too!

It is a nice open space and you get to use the plug sockets unlike Barking library. However the books I want to take out are normally all reserved for the college students which is a pain. Also they have a seperate area for teenagers but they use all the other parts of the library and are noisy causing disruption. The printing costs are astronomical and could be a bit cheaper.Update a year later and it is just a noisy, swearing cess pit. As a previous person commented you might as well just pack up your stuff and move elsewhere as the staff don't care, I don't blame them as some of the noise makers are just animals.Update another year:The situation is bleak at best. I am sitting here next to the staff desk and the noise that the staff are making is just mind blowing. Not even talking about work, what a joke. Libraries are places to read, study and have a bit of peace and quiet. No wonder they are dying out and so they should if the staff cannot even abide by library rules.The place is impossible to find a seat to sit down as they have removed many of them so not even single chairs scattered to keep distancing. A diabolical library.Knock it down and build a Gregg's/McDonald's/KFC combo, it's what the people really want.