Ygnacio Valley Library

The children’s librarian– an older lady with white hair is completely rude. I wonder why she is the children’s librarian where she does not seem to enjoy interaction with children and perhaps adults. If this were not close to our house, I would definitely boycott because of the negative attitude.
All the other librarians seem to be very nice, so they raise the number of stars to two instead of zero for that extremely unpleasant woman. She seems to have a chip on her shoulder. Who know what happened to her. Pity

It’s 10a on Friday morning. I am here with my toddler and preschool children. Yes they do not know how to whisper. Yes the library is a huge open room which makes it difficult to contain noise and find a quiet spot. Not many patrons here. Very quiet. Toys in children’s area is excellent. Lots of puzzles for younger kids. Books are updated and varied. We love coming here! We also come on Saturday mornings and not many patrons at that time either.

Libraries are great! This one had Karaōke on one Saturday morning which was fun for the kids! This place has a ton of books crammed in a small place, plus movies and other stuff a typical good library has. Although the place looks like it was remodeled in the 1950’s, the content and people are great!
yay libraries 4ever

This library has been here FOREVER. It’s quite small, but has lots of books and DVDs packed in it. In fact, I feel like I’m usually able to find books I’m searching for here, rather than the downtown WC library. I usually use this library to check out books rather than study. There are limited desks due to the size of the library, and limited outlets. I often see kids getting tutored here, so I would come here early if you want a desk. When it’s hot, the A/​C is usually on too high. Because the library is so small, as soon as kids are out from school, the library also gets very noisy and packed.
Otherwise, this is a pretty solid library.

This is an older, smaller library but usually not a problem when you can have stuff sent over from other libraries.
The only gripe I have is the noise. They have a quiet reading area but when the kids fill the place, keeping the place quiet is a challenge. With an elementary and a middle school near by, this becomes a after school hangout place so noise is inevitable. To avoid this, stop by during school hours.

I just approached the front desk and ask a question; by mistake instead of saying «library card» I said «card library» one of the lady at the front desk laugh at me in my face and turn over giving me her back. She didn’t apology nor keep trying to help me. Embarrassing situation that I never expect from a librarian. Poor woman, my mistake made her show her ignorance and bad soul.

Neighborhood library. Great place to read and borrow books and dvds. Since it is a public library, it’s free!

What people are saying about this library is essentially true.
I use the library a lot. This is the branch I usually have stuff sent to from other libraries. I read a lot and also get DVDs here (why more people do not use this I will never understand — it’s free. You will not find a better bargain).
The folks who work at this library are extremely nice and helpful. This particular branch has a nice selection of books if you want to just walk in and get something. Good set up as well.
Its main problem is the noise. Little kids run all over the place screaming and crying and yelling. Older kids make all kinds of noise. At no time does anyone tell the kids or their parents that this is a library and you’re supposed to be quiet. In fact, the staff just talks louder when they’re speaking. I’ve never seen anything like it. I have been to many libraries and this is the only one I’ve ever been to where screaming and loud kids is accepted. There are school aged kids yapping on the phone in fact I see adults talking on the phone without any problems as well.
This would be a superb library if someone who worked there did was librarians are supposed to do — keep people quiet. For me personally, I can’t stand it too long — I’ve done a lot of work there but 50 – 60 minutes is as long as I can take. It’s just too noisy.

So I took a Professional Student’s Day today.
«What is a Professional Students Day?» You may ask.
Well, you know how teachers and professors get an Administrative Professionals Day, a day off to spend a day lesson planning and what-​not? My professional student day is spent doing the exact opposite: spend the day being quite productive usually at a place that doesn’t allow me to procrastinate. The library is one of these places.
I chose to come here after going to the Pleasant Hill Library and finding out they don’t open until 1 in the afternoon. What an inconvenience!
This library isn’t half bad. I used to go here a lot during high school. My only complaint is that it was NOISY today. Kids screaming at every corner of the place. There was this annoying, old, salt and pepper wavy haired employee who worked at the help desk that was talking louder than normal to the other worker. He was sooo obnoxious. Like seriously… it’s a library. Speak like you’re in one. Tone it down a notch.
Be sure to bring headphones or ear plugs just in case.
Oh yeah. I really had to go to the bathroom really bad, but they weren’t near the door like I thought. I didn’t bother to ask since I was on my way to a Starbucks anyways.

This isn’t my favorite Contra Costa Library branch. Even when it’s convenient for me to drop by, I avoid it if I can.
The parking is very limited and more than once I’ve circled around and had to leave.
It’s also a bit crummy inside.
As far as the holdings are concerned, they have a pretty good selection of fiction and cookbooks. There’s a Classics bookcase that I always consult when I want a guaranteed good read. I wish more libraries had this actually.
Great selection of magazines, which is in a separate section tucked in to the right as you walk in.
This branch recently revamped their computer section, big star for that.
The displays have been really great at this branch, both the book displays and more creative displays. One time they had a giant replica of an iPod in the teen section on the wall, and on my last visit they had doctored toilet-​roll tubes to look like zombies /​mummies. Really, it was cuter than it sounds!
Lots of VHS tapes but not that many DVDs, I guess they’re making the switch slowly. I like that they continue to carry VHS tapes, though, since the library needs to serve the community and not everyone has moved to DVDs.
I love the library system and I can see how people would have fond memories of this branch. But this one needs some TLC.

As a place to study, this library is not the greatest. It is filled with kids and teens after 2 pm, and gets a bit noisy with all their chatting and toddlers running amuck. There’s a quiet reading section near the entrance which is a better place to go. On weekday mornings the parking lot can get quite full, and there were no spaces left when I arrived at 11:30 am. This library is a bit old and small, but I like the homey feeling it has. It’s a nice place when it is actually quiet.

Actually 3.5 stars rounded up for the nice staff. This location is close to the office easier to get to then Pleasant Hill even though it’s a little bit farther. The last time I went the paperback section was a little disappointing.
I love that the location opens at 10 am six days a week!

Small library, but convenient for me. It gets loud, which is a drawback. Hopefully the librarians will change this someday and ask people to use «inside voices.» You know, like a library.