I really enjoyed visiting this library with my kids! There's a whole kids section downstairs, which…read moremakes it nice when my kids want to be excited while looking at books. I wasn't afraid of them being too loud for the other visitors. There were a bunch of other kids having a good time doing arts and crafts when we visited. A male librarian helped my son find the graphic novels and even recommended some which we ended up checking out. They have a wide selection of books and sitting areas for the kids. Everything was organized so well. I was very impressed.

Love the old building and it's in great shape. Spacious and nice ambiance. Helpful staff. Great…read morelocation.

Book-lovers' paradise! Books are well-organised, the catalog is well-maintained and the staff…read moremembers are very helpful. I always end up finding new books everytime I go. PS- their book sale is worth checking out, and so is their honor books section!

Take a sojourn to the land of literature! I am quite fond of libraries, and Goleta Valley is no…read moreexception! I don't just adore this community gem because I'm a bibliophile, but because of the variety of enrichment and resources it offers. Staff are consistently kind, knowledgeable and helpful. The usual books, periodicals, compact discs, dvd, etc. are available to check out. There are also books, dvds and cds for sale at bargain basement prices in the entryway. We always find something we can't say no to. There are so many programs for kids and adults, including the summer reading program, for which there are raffle prizes, art exhibits, informational events, literary events and much more. The access to digital resources is immense, including catalogs of digital movies, music and audiobooks a member can access at home or on the go through a mobile device. There is a parking lot, including disabled parking availability, and the building is accessible, which is important. We are so grateful for our local library!

Very beautiful exterior and a ton of outlets available. We sat right by the cliff swallows and saw…read morethem feeding their young and doing dives while doing work. Down below is a beautiful view of the ocean with rolling green hills that the community and their dogs love. WiFi is reliable and cute. Hand sanitizer and tissues available although the cafe is sadly closed. Water machine still works and was very chilled for $3.

Great library with plenty of resources. They charge to print so make sure your student ID is…read moreloaded with some cash. The books can only be checked out for a few hours (at least that was the case with my calc book) so be sure to mind the time. The library has always been open when I have showed up. The staff are friendly and there is a huge computer lab with both Mac and PC computers.

Came on a Thursday morning with my grandchildren so they can attend the story time and songs at the…read morediscovery area for kids. After that we watched the puppet show in the audio visual room. My grandchildren have fun and we ate snacks at the coffee shop just outside the library. My grandchildren are excited to go back again. I highly recommend

My favorite local library that's cute and well organized for each age group and/or interest…read more Love the pirate ship space in the discovery area for the little ones . They offer small activities and coloring pages for something else to do when the kids need a break from reading. There's a good amount of dvds you can rent as well as books.

This place never cease to exists. Since being a student to now, there is so much to offer for…read moreeveryone. And of course a tremendous resource for knowledge. I stopped in to visit the new exhibit showcasing local bee diversity. It was simple but so elegantly done. I'm always impressed with things here. Thank you Gauchos!

Yelp tells me it's National Library Week, so here's an updated version of my review of the UCSB…read moreLibrary, a truly wonderful resource. I wrote the original last year when we were still in the midst of a terrible drought. We got a lot of rain this last winter, but nothing like the storm I describe below. Back in the 90s I was a grad student at UCSB and had the privilege of doing research in this library. It's an outstanding resource and staffed with an incredibly knowledgeable and helpful staff. Five stars all damn day! Also back in the 90s here in Southern California we used to have wet winters. Hardly ever rains in these parts anymore. This story took place in 1994, in the middle of an absolutely epic rainstorm. The wind was so strong that huge decades-old eucalyptus trees were blown down all around campus. Roads running through the campus were blocked with these fallen behemoths. The rain was coming down in torrents. It was a full on El Nino type storm event. I had spent the morning doing research and left the Library a little after noon to walk to my apartment about a half mile away I was wearing my trusty REI raincoat. It has a huge hood that completely covers my head and has a bill that extends out to cover the top part of my face. With the hood on and bill pulled down you can keep your face dry but your forward vision is limited to the area just in front of your feet. I was on the path that led back to family student housing, with a backpack loaded with like 15 pounds of books I had just checked out. The wind was blowing so hard it made the rain look like it was falling sideways. I was walking into the wind as fast as I possibly could, staring at the ground and only peeking out from under my hood occasionally to make sure I wasn't about to run into anything. Since it was raining so hard, and had been for hours, the path was virtually deserted. Every time I peeked out from under my hood there wasn't anyone else on the path. I kept my head down and pushed on into the driving rain. Then the damnedest thing happened. I looked up and saw Professor Steven Hawking no more than five feet away, speeding directly toward me in his wheelchair. We were just seconds away from a head on collision. At the absolute last possible moment I jumped to the right, out of his way. He motored full speed right by me. Missed me by mere inches. It happened so fast there wasn't time to process the situation. I stood there in the pouring rain and watched him roll away. I couldn't move my feet. I was shaking with adrenaline. WTF????? I almost collided with Steven Frickin' Hawking. Now, you wouldn't know it from my profile, but I'm actually a pretty big guy. At the time I was 6'2" and weighed 220 pounds. I had a backpack with over 15 pounds of books on my back and I was walking at full speed. Steven Hawking was 5'6" and weighed about 137 pounds. And he had ALS. All the way home this loop played in my head: Oh my god, that was so close! Oh my god, if I would've hit him head on, I might have killed him . Oh my god, I almost killed Steven Hawking! In my mind's eye I could see the headlines, "World's Smartest Man killed by Village Idiot." When I got home I tried to sort it all out. I had so many questions. Like, first of all, what the hell was Steven Hawking doing in Santa Barbara? And what was he doing out in the middle of a torrential downpour with no attendants? I mean, wouldn't you assume he would have at least a caregiver or a gaggle of grad students around him pretty much all the time? Well, he didn't. He didn't even have a damn umbrella. He had to have been soaked. And then I started thinking about the moment I looked up to find him just five feet in front of me. He had to have seen me coming right at him for a long time before I noticed him, but when I looked up he was coming straight for me. The path was eight feet wide. He could have easily steered around me. But he didn't. He was coming straight at me. That was a startling realization. Immediately I pictured a different newspaper headline: "Village Idiot Survives Assassination Attempt by World's Smartest Man." Since I wrote the original review I found out what Professor Hawking was actually doing at UCSB. He had a close relationship with the UCSB Physics Department and was on campus as a guest of the Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics. The Institute was launching a series of lectures to make Physics more accessible to the general public. Professor Hawking gave the inaugural lecture of the series at Campbell Hall. Mikey C says: Hey Hawking, I'm walking here!

Yep, I'm kinda a bibliophile so this Little Cottage home with it's collection of tomes is a close…read morefriend. My absolute favvvv thing to do, is reserve books online from various, adjacent library counties and have them shipped into Montecito; subsequently I swing by and it's ready for check-out. Ta-da. Reading the Wall Street journal via iPhone is cool but a novel is mandatory in hardcover/paperback. It gives your eyeballs a rest from a computer screen, ya know. Also, the librarians are my age which is rad, bc any tech glitches and it's an easy solution. During the holidays they had a canister of cookies by the entrance which was thoughtful and sweet. Lastly, they host movie Wednesday's: it's a row of 15 seats in one of it's rooms with a vaulted ceiling and the film on a projector screen. I've been to one and found it delectable. :)

Like most things in ritzy Montecito, this is a nice library. It's got a cozy, homey atmosphere. The…read morefurniture in the reading room is comfy. The main drawback of this branch is its size. It's quite small. So, the book selection isn't vast, the computers for internet access are few, the aisles are narrow and seating is limited. Having said that, they do a lot with the little they have! The one or two staffers are helpful when asked. The selection of the books and other materials they do have are of good quality. And the place is usually quiet. Just what I look for in a library!

All right. For folks that love a bargain, love to read, love to up cycle, and love to contribute to…read morea good cause AND find themselves in the town of Carpinteria... then by golly check out the Friends of the Library bookstore. The shop is part of the library with its own entrance. All the books look to be in good condition. The shop was clean and bright. The books were sitting pretty and neatly organized on the shelves. Prices were discounted. Check them out

Best place by far. If in the area Ojai has bookstore as well. But Friends of the Library has many…read morehidden gems and no book I've seen is over $3. All gently used to brand new. Favorite bookstore in CA!

Good because of its location…read more Bad because of sign in/out of the bathroom with a key as well. With adults can't just go beyond a certain point of the 2nd floor (juvenile/young adult). By the way they actually kept the doors open because of still of COVID/-19. When they shouldn't have. I would just rather skip here for another library/book store to begin with.

Oh no. No, no, no, no, no…read more Okay, I DID get a lot done sitting there in that lone little chair at that tiny wooden table under the window. It was quiet.... But, oh, dear readers, 63 years is too damn long to wait to upgrade a library--a center of culture and education!--please. Oh please. Please, please, please, please, please.

I stopped into the Carpinteria Community Library since I was moseying myself to the burger joint…read moreacross the street. Curiosity struck. I wanted to know what it looked like inside. So I sauntered myself into the library. It's small in square footage but they sure do pack a lot into the space. Besides books, they have computer (laptops) for in library use by library card holders. There was a cozy children's book and activity area giving off homey vibes. The armchairs added to that vibe along with the architecture of the building. They even had a covered front porch with pub height tables and chairs. Comfy place to crack open your laptop to use the WiFi. Fun fact: the Carpinteria city library was established on November 10, 1910 and was the first county library in California. (Ohhh the 1st). That original building was on 892 Linden Ave. See I learned a new fact. I picked up that little nugget by reading the funky lettered carved wooden sign in the courtyard.

Walking in to this library was a Blast from the Past. Not their past but mine. The smell of the…read morebooks, the sight of rows of orderly books and seeing a lady behind a large desk with cat glasses takes me back to lovely memories. I could spend a whole afternoon here (I wish there was an espresso bar). The library is small but has plenty book books in all topics. The helpful staff set us up with a library card and off we went with 7 books.