Ross-Barnum Library

Huzzah! The city has found some money, so this library has much better hours.
This branch is small and it’s not all clean and shiny outside, but you are in Barnum folks. This is just where the neighborhood is, for now. If you can’t handle that, then you should try the suburbs or the parts of the city that are basically the suburbs (I’m looking at you, Stapleton).
Current hours in Feb 2014:
Mon: 10 – 6 Tue: 10 – 6 Wed: 12 – 8 Thu: 12 – 8 Fri: 10 – 6 Sat: 9 – 5
Sun: closed

This library is really a diamond in the rough. The staff really care about their patrons and work hard to make a nice place for the neighborhood. There should be more places like this.

I’m becoming more and more disheartened by the Denver Public Library as a whole the more time passes. However, I typically frequent Woodbury Library and now I know why.
Ross-​Barnum is one of the locations with the worst and most inconvenient hours of all the branches. Parking is sketchy as well. The lot next to them appears to be more an extension of the alley than a lot to put my car in.
I wouldn’t mind at all if this branch closed. I’ll continue to be a regular at Woodbury given the atmosphere and convenience factors, even if five miles away.

Like Kaye B., I wish that the Ross-​Barnum branch could be open more often. This branch is almost always busy — though, fortunately, never so crowded that you can’t find a spot to sit down with a laptop and take advantage of their free wifi (which can be a little slow, but the price is right). I came once 10 minutes before they opened and there were already half a dozen people waiting outside the door. I’m sure they have enough patrons and potential patrons to support a 5-​day or even a 7-​day week.
Despite the budget cuts and workload, the librarians at this branch are an extremely cheerful bunch. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever seen librarians look so un-​oppressed, at least not at a public library. They seem to be happy to see every patron who walks through the door. As far as I can tell, most of the librarians and assistants speak both English and Spanish, and at least one of them speaks Vietnamese.
As Kaye B. mentioned, the library also has holdings in English, Spanish and Vietnamese. I’ve been particularly impressed with the collection of Spanish-​language children’s books — they have shelves and shelves of picture books in Spanish to choose from. The holdings in English are also pretty extensive for a small branch library, and I always find something interesting in the new books area.
Finally, the building itself is well-​designed. The ladies’ room is large and usually very clean, there’s a neat little display area (currently showcasing artifacts and documents related to Barnum’s history), there’s plenty of light, and there are some nice little nooks where you can sit and read or use a laptop.
One thing I have noticed that’s a little different from the branch we used to live near (Decker, which is in Platt Park) is the level of security. Some of the circulation clerks are also security officers (they’re just as friendly and helpful as any other circulation clerk, though), and you have to get a key to use the bathroom (which is kind of funny because there are three stalls in the ladies’ room, but only one key). Also, when you have a book on hold someone has to go get it for you (at Decker you could just walk behind the desk and pick it up — which was actually a little weird anyway). The attention to security doesn’t make the experience of visiting the library any worse, but I do think crime can happen anywhere, so I’m not sure why DPL thinks these features are necessary in some branches but not in others (perhaps there’s a history here, I don’t know).
At any rate, it’s a great little library and a wonderful asset for the neighborhood.