Anaheim Central Library — Attraction in Anaheim

This is a review from someone in n out of this library as a child and a undergrad. As a kid I remember how engaging the staff was with helping me out with school work. Now I either get distracted by the mentally sick or smelly transits upstairs. And if you go downstairs that's mostly the teen/children area and they wont allow you to study downstairs unless unaccompanied by a child or teen. Also its very loud downstairs so I would avoid trying. One day I approached an employee downstairs in the teen computer area to ask a question, and she was just texting away with no eye contact... super rude. WiFi is very spotty and inconsistent, and the computers inside the room are always having issues. They spend too much time making the library look cool than functionality. They throw events that benefit none of their normal patrons. Just random events like a comic theme one? Wasn't really appealing and the pikachu post-its? How long did that take to do? My tax money going to good use I see. There is so much they could do to make this library great again. It seems likes it been in a downward trend over the last decade, and I honestly feel its more of a community center with books. It does have a nice collection of books which I do recommend along with their movie rentals at a reasonable price. But if you plan on studying or just coming in to work on something I would highly avoid this library.

Edit to Library response- There are exceptions though and there is a pamphlets located with your supervisors indicating that there is minimum standards to hygiene and other safety rules. I have complained numerous times about loud or smelly patrons that are clearly located inside the library and hazardous to public. So many regular homeless come to mind and the staff does nothing to uphold their own rules. They allow the patrons to dirty the seats with who knows what. So no I do not feel safe here. Someone could say otherwise but unless its a person screaming and interfering their work they do not care. Its not about the quiet area its the fact that 70% of people upstairs are homeless and smell (more of a hygiene issue than serving public issue). And a majority of your programs are catered to teens. Nothings diverse about it should I be impressed with your crochet adult class? Like I said this library has lost its value, and someone who has been going here for over a decade has seen...

I actually appreciate the library’s efforts to engage kids and teens. I’ve visited public libraries in much wealthier cities and few exhibit the efforts to reach children that I see at this library. I take my children to this library quite often, even though it’s a bit of a drive for us, and have never had a negative experience with the “transient” as some earlier reviewers have despicably referred to some of the library’s visitors. It is a PUBLIC library open to all the public, and yes, it is not uncommon to encounter people that some may consider “undesirable.” However, I welcome that as an opportunity to expose my children to the challenges less fortunate individuals face such as homelessness or mental/physical disabilities. In fact, I consider that exposure to be just as important as feeding their love for reading. If only we all, especially the “studied,” could have a bit more empathy toward others. By the way, if you’re going to flaunt that you have years of going “in and out of libraries as a child and an undergrad,” edit more carefully. Your lack of empathy and basic grammar skills give (higher) education a...

I cannot believe the audacity of one of the employees there. My phone had died and I asked if I could please borrow the phone. With a teasing voiced and a grin on her face, she asks to tell here again. I repeated that I was asking if I could use the phone. I told her that I needed to call my insurance’s ride company. She then asks about the companies name and the doctors name…….Proceeded to ask her why she was asking all this information and to forget about it. She then goes on to tell me “the answer is no” she needed to know because she would “maybe I will make an exception” All but one of the employees that I have had a displeasure of interacting with, they all lack professionalism ( being loud in the quiet area, chopping it out with a guest who is always talking about the same book he is reading, threatening to walk you out when they don’t have answers and I try to help out by rephrasing the question, not following up…… The only exceptional one is a guy by the...