employer cover photo
employer logo
employer logo

New York Public Library

Is this your company?

New York Public Library reviews

3.6

58% would recommend to a friend

(615 total reviews)
avatar

Anthony Marx

53% approve of CEO

44% positive business outlook

New York Public Library has an employee rating of 3.6 out of 5 stars, based on 615 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The New York Public Library employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Arts, Entertainment & Recreation industry (3.9 stars).

Reviews by job title

615 reviews
2.0
Mar 17, 2026

Toxic Workplace

Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Access to books, ability to engage with a diverse patron community.

Cons

Inability to make complaints, favoritism within the workplace, bullying from superiors and other staff members, lack of positive acknowledgment, lack of training, inability to move upward due to lack of training, no work/life balance, micromanagement.

4.0
Mar 29, 2025

Decent benefits, great people

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Depending on the branch, most employees are passionate and care deeply about the patrons but that can vary based on how locations are funded. The benefits are good and the pto time is generous. -most diverse institutions I have ever worked at, I can vouch for NYPL's commitment to having staff that is reflective of our diverse community.

Cons

The turnover rate is alarming and it has a lot to do with the pay not meeting livable wage criteria since it is a non-profit after all. There are too many people that abandon ship which ends up costing more in the long run, it would be better to invest a little more in employees so that they don't see their roles as a placeholder for something better. - Recent policy changes to make staff come into the office when there is no space accommodations don't make sense and will hurt productivity in the long term. There is little investment in adequate office space and is even more horrid for underfunded branches. I understand leadership's perspective about productivity but making such a drastic change without having the proper amenities to make it work is extremely rash and is in fact counterintuitive to their long term goals.

4.0
Mar 20, 2025
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Great benefits (health insurance, pension, generous time off, sick pay, etc), yearly COLA increase, hybrid scheduling (for most)

Cons

Deeply understaffed and the higher ups aren't doing much to fix this, always on edge with budget cuts, bending over backwards for trustees with short turnarounds. HR is resistant to giving staff higher wages.

Viewing 127 - 129 of 615 Reviews

Glassdoor has 666 New York Public Library reviews submitted anonymously by New York Public Library employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if New York Public Library is right for you.