Belmont Branch - Richmond Public Library — Attraction in Richmond

Stopped here with my daughter to renew her library card. While here, we ventured into the children’s section directly to the right of the front desk. I was drawn to the picture books since we are both teachers and I wanted to look around. There were no children during this time. It was about an hour before closing. My teens took a seat at one of the tables and began coloring on some holiday coloring sheets that were on the table while I briefly looked and sat down. It made me smile because it’s been a long time since I’ve seen them color like kids. Again the library was pretty empty and no children around. After sitting for about 10 minutes, the manager came over, announced that she was the manager of the library, told us to move to the adult section since this area was for children. Abrupt. Rude. No questions asked. No friendliness. No, “hey, I’m glad you’re enjoying the library, would you mind moving to another section?” or “Can I help you find a book to interest you?” We felt like we were doing something wrong. We weren’t loud just sitting, and enjoying the space. Again, there were no children in the library. We absolutely would not have disturbed the kids had they been in the space and allowed them to enjoy the section. I grew up going to the library with my mom and it’s been a long time since I’ve been in one with my teens, so being there brought back memories. Very...

I tried to get my will and power of attorney notarized after calling ahead to check the requirements and verifying I had everything I needed and the correct amount of witnesses. After reviewing my documents for 10 minutes while glaring and grumbling at them the notary said that we could proceed. She then moved on to reviewing the witness IDs and made the first witness attempt his signature twice and provide a second form of ID because his signature didn’t exactly match what was on his ID. She declared that since it did not EXACTLY match she couldn’t notarize his signature and therefore none of my documents and sent us away. Idk if it was the color of his skin or the country from which his ID came from, although he FIRST provided his US ID, but based on her “opinion” she denied us. I am beyond dumbfounded by her decisions. Think twice before going...

Our local branch—sizable, full of lovely natural light, and conveniently located. I’ve seen others lament that in not having seating (temporarily, due to covid) this library fails to serve its purpose, but seeing as it is filled with books to check out, I suspect they might not realize what a library is. It’s also not the librarians fault that others opt to go to crowded bars during a pandemic. Looking forward to when the library can operate ordinarily, but for now I’m grateful for a place to...