Upland Public Library — Attraction in Upland

I really enjoy the programming of this library and my staff experiences have been positive thus far! Their 1-year-old music program is always fun and engaging and I love the monthly spice program! The actual library leaves quite a bit to be desired, however. The selection is fairly small, likely due to the size of the library, which I understand.

My first issue was that there was also almost no signage on the bookshelves to guide patrons about the genre/section of books. This is particularly frustrating in the children’s section where I saw 0 signs.

My primary issue was with the children’s library itself. It does not look designed for children. There is one toy and a few small, child-sized chairs, but that’s about it. The rest of the tables are adult-sized, hard, and wooden. The actual shelves are high as well, making the top shelves inaccessible to little children. The children’s section is also on the top floor, meaning it is right next to a long and open staircase which a child could easily fall down as well as automatic sliding doors. This made it incredibly challenging for me to find books as I had a 1-year old who I had to watch incredibly carefully so that he didn’t run to the stairs or out the door, both of which could’ve happened in less than 5 seconds if I turned my back. Overall, the children’s library felt cold and unappealing to children.

There was also a lack of seating for adults. All of the downstairs seating consisted of what appeared to be testing desks. There were no long, open tables, just small and enclosed desks. It makes the library feel very cold and isolating. I don’t dislike the desks but there were absolutely no actual tables except for the study rooms.

Overall, my consensus is that the Upland Library feels like a government building. It doesn’t feel welcoming or comfortable and it’s not the kind of place I’d go to study for an afternoon or bring kids to play.

(That being said: to anyone complaining about the library being noisy, get over it. The library being silent is an outdated expectation. Libraries are one of the few community gathering spaces we have left, and they are supposed to be noisy. The kids programs are supposed to be loud and fun, because they’re engaging the kids. Libraries are collaborative and communal spaces and if they’re silent all the time, they’re doing...

My kids and I love this library and regularly come here, even though we live closer to the Rancho libraries. They have multiple storytime options each week, some for really little kids and some for older ones, and a new addition of a bilingual (Spanish) storytime on Fridays. In the summer, they have a great summer reading program with good programs and good rewards (there's even an adult summer reading program, but the prizes are not as exciting haha), and for the past couple summers they've also had free school district lunches for the kids, no matter where you live. They also have a wonderful program called ZipBooks, where if there's a book you want that they don't have, you can request it through ZipBooks and it gets delivered to your house brand new via Amazon, and then when you're done you give it to the library. Amazingggg! So many other fun things, like a fruit/veggie/flower seed library in the file cabinets downstairs, a free spice of the month to add to your spice cupboard, the Friends of the Library bookstore where you can buy books for just 50...

As walking into the library, i find myself very lost and being new to the area no one greeted me or said hello to help me to figure out the layout of the library. As i started to find a spot to sit, i had a guy speaking loud towards the employer, as the employer didn't have the situation in control. Not knowing that i needed to have a library card to access the internet, so i had to pack all my stuff and head back upstairs to get one. As taking the 15 mins of applying for a card and coming back downstairs and getting back on my laptop, signing onto the internet, i wasn't able to watch a video for my study. As talking to the employees downstairs, i find them very rude to an older man and have no respect. I would probably not come to this library again because of the lack of customer service. I have work in a library and understanding the frustration of helping people all day; i would never talk down to someone but sit there a listen to try to know how to proceed with...