📚LOCAL LIBRARY RANKING 📚
My mission is to visit all 35 branches of the county public library system (and bookmobile). So far I have been to 9 but i do need to revisit a few of them bc some of them I havent been to in years.
I will be assigning numbers to the libraries based on the order I visit them...
I know that everyone has different preferences for what makes a library great, but I will be checking for the specific things that I care about bc this is MY website and also you dont even know where i am so like how is this gonna help u... ? I mostly care about vibes. Unless they have a special local history collection, I am not too concerned with the selection of books and media as the system's collection is very large and the request/hold system is very efficient.
These are the criteria I will evaluate the libraries on:
- Design and Comfort
- Is the library easy to get to and how is the parking?
- How much natural light is there and what color/warmth is the artificial lighting?
- Are there comfortable chairs? i have back problems lol
- How are the acoustics/does sound travel far? I don't usually care about libraries being silent but I also dont want my ears split open if theres a child having a bad time in there.
- Where are the tables and computers placed and which directions do they face? Is there sufficient space for people to pass by and between these areas to access library materials?
- Are there any additional design elements of note?
- HOW ARE THE BATHROOMS!?
- Computers!
- How many computers are there in total?
- Is the computer equiptment up-to-date and in good working order?
- Is the computer area comfortable and well laid-out?
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HOW DOES IT SMELL IN THERE !!!?????
Library 1
- This is the library closet to my home and the one that I spent the most time at growing up. Overall I like this branch but sometimes I avoid it bc most of the people working there have known me since i was small and they always want to chat. I feel bad bc usually I dont have much to say, but I am grateful that they are friendly and helpful.
- This branch joined the county system in the 1910s and the current location was built in the late 70s. It has a significant local history collection including yearbooks and microfishe/-film of the local paper.
- This library is a free-standing building in a small town downtown. There are maybe 6 dedicated parking spaces on one side of the bulding, but there is plenty of parking across the street at the park as well as a smallish lot that is shared with a church next to it.
- There is good natural light in the mornings but due to the directions the windows face it is mostly gone by the afternoon. The lights are a bit more yellow than I would like them to be and it is a little bit dark in there sometimes.
- There are some soft comfortable chairs in the periodicals area, but they are closely grouped around low tables in fours and it can be awkward to share the space if someone else is already there. Chairs at desks and computers are hard but not uncomfortable.
- Acoustically the library is not particularly resonant but since the workers know the community members so well there is a tendency for chatter. Personally this doesnt bother me but I would definitely bring headphones or consider visiting a different location if I really needed a completely quiet space. The childrens section is off to the side a bit so I don't ever really hear any noise from them.
- There are tables out in the middle of the space and a few desks in corners. I dont ever feel like I am in the way. This library has two entrances and the tables are situated where you can face one door and easily see the other if you turn your head.
- There is a lot of natural medium-tone wood in the interior of the building and this makes the space a bit dark. Sometimes I think this is cozy and other times i really dislike it, depending on the time of day, season, etc.
- BATHROOM CHECK NEXT TIME
- There are six computers available to use in the main area and two in the children's area, as well as one computer to make a reservation on and one print release computer station.
- All computer equiptment seems to be fuctional and sufficiently up-to-date.
- The computer tables have pull-out keyboard drawers which I find uncomfortable to use. Often I take the keyboard out and place it on the table top, but this causes me to sit too close to the monitor.....
- Some of the computers face eachother, and I never would have thought of this as a problem until last week when a man at the computer across from me SLID A NOTE ACROSS THE TABLE ASKING IF I HAD A BOYFRIEND. I was like uhhhh and just left bc i was almost out of computer time anyway and i didnt know what to do OOP.
- This library has a slightly dusty smell, but not to the point of stuffiness. classic and acceptable library book smell.
Library 2
- This is my favorite library to spend time at. It has the unfair advantage of being very new. It was opened in 2008 and was a big deal for the town bc the library had previously been in the same VERY small main street storefront since LITERALLY NINETEEN FOURTEEN. I was at the grand openeing ceremony. I used to walk here after school and hang out.
- There is a decently sized parking lot and plenty of street parking too.
- Really excellent natural light due to large windows high in the ceiling. This is also a really well lit library where the additional lighting is just the right temp that the natural and artificial lighting blend really well.
- There are only a few comfortable chairs but they are the most comfortable in any of the libraries i have visited so far.
- Due to the high cieling, sound travels pretty far in this library. I kind of like this bc im nosy and love to eavesdrop. There is a seperate computer lab and a quiet reading room though.
- There is one main path from the entrance of the library through to the quiet reading room with the service area and computer lab on one side and all of the books on the other. There are a few tables near the entrance to the computer lab that kind of block the foreign language section. I would not want to scoot past someone sitting at those tables to get to that shelf. There are also a few tables behind all the shelves and I like sitting in that are bc there's a little bit more privacy there.
- This library also has a local history collection of including issues of the now-defunct local paper. There is also a HUGE mural incorporating figures and events from the town's history. I once had a guide that explained everything that was included in the mural.
- Bathrooms are clean and well-lit. The sinks are motion-activated and really annoying and splash you all over. The hand dryer sucks too but there is also a paper towel dispenser so not worries.
- There are 14 computers to use and one to make reservations from in the computer lab, two at a station in the adult fiction section, three in the children's section, and one catalog access station.
- All of the computers seem to be functioning well.
- The computer tables are at a comfortable height and there's plenty of room to have a notebook or something between you and the keyboard. The chairs at all computer stations are hard and have very sharp corners and edges that cut into my legs :(
- This library is too new to be stuffy yet. No noticable smell.