Will & Ariel Durant Branch Library — Attraction in Los Angeles

I hold the institution of libraries to the highest standard. The Will & Ariel Durant Library has a small collection of books, they are relevant to a modern audience, a lot of recently published books and youth oriented genres. They have a Russian collection and a section for teens and young children. The employees though are condescending at most, there would be spurts of good service for those to whom they are familiar with, which makes me wonder why they got that treatment and I didn't. There is a constant surveilance of a security guard, which strips you down bare with their stares; so intent it feels like a prison. The janitors needs training in cleaning. I could guarantee, you could get MRSA from touching the tables and chairs which are sticky, black, smells like urine and I believe I saw a trace of feces. I saw a janitor, spraying on top of furniture with a cleaning spray but just swivels a dirty rag on the surface, this is not cleaning, spot cleaning is not cleaning, healthwise I do not think it is safe for children to be surrounded by bacteria and probably virus infested furnitures. The employees are aware that there are homeless people that come in and spend their time in this facility, in which I know is a policy that the L.A. has which is very honorable. I believe that all libraries should be open to all. But I do believe doing the work to clean the library to make it safe for children and the elderly who are susceptible to dirty surfaces. If cleaning supplies is an issue, there is a faucet in the bathroom, get soap from the 99 cents store and cloth and scrub the tables and chairs, I could see that the furniture does not get cleaned. Those janitors are notproviding a service to clean so that the library remains sanitary, healthy and safe, it is currently...

GREAT STAFF and access, but it’s a de facto HOMELESS SHELTER now: The staff here are absolutely lovely and very helpful, especially the Latina woman that works at the circulation desk, she’s actually above and beyond, but I would go so far as to include the librarians. The LA public library actually has a very good collection and a very good system if you want to read books or access media materials. Unfortunately, this branch is basically one big smelly homeless shelter now. Lots of mentally ill and clearly substance-addicted persons who are looking for a free place to spend the day without working or getting help or treatment. It’s sad for them, as well as for anyone who would like to use this as an actual library, rather than as a daytime halfway house.

The people on here complaining about strict security staff and/or janitors are likely the ones abusing the system. I credit security here with the hardest job known to man. How to create a place with free public access during a homeless catastrophe while making sure it’s safe and clean for everyone. Mission impossible. Good luck guys.

I wish I had the solution but I don’t, just here passing on info and experiences. Congrats to the staff who put up with this every day and at the same time still manage to provide excellent service to me anytime I need a book or media...

Wow, this library sucked. It was bad. I walked in, the lingering smell of mustiness was instant. It’s an open concept library. So as soon as you walk in, you can see whether every single table is taken up. Which it was. and 85% by homeless people… a good amount were doing nothing or sleeping (which isn’t allowed in libraries but the staff here don’t care). the entire place had an underlying smell of homeless.

Its very open concept, which i typically don’t like. but it’s not the worst things ever. Still, I couldn’t study here at all. It wasn’t comfortable at all. And i wouldn’t say safe either.

It really feels like it’s a sanctuary for homeless people/ a homeless shelter. The bathrooms rooms are gender neutral, which i get but is a big no no in this kind of climate. the bathrooms also had needle containers so certain individuals were able to dispose of their needles safely. i get it, but it shows that kind of stuff is normal...