When I was a reader (grader) at UC Berkeley, the classes I read for were always English classes…read more They may have been cross-listed with other departments (history, disability studies, religious studies, ethnic studies, etc.); but I worked for the English Department, and these were English classes. Eventually, most of those classes (I read for one or two classes at a time between 2005 and 2013) were held in Wheeler Hall, which is the English Department's building, but especially early on, the classes were all over campus, from Northgate Hall to the Social Sciences Building (then named Barrows Hall) to Physics North (then named North Le Conte Hall) to McCone Hall. Before I ever worked in McCone, I used to take what I thought was a shortcut through McCone to get to Northgate. It didn't end up saving me any time, but I'm really glad I did that while exploring campus early on, because I used to pass right through the security gates of the Earth Sciences & Map Library. Eventually, when my class was in McCone (the only time I ever read for a class in that building), I actually spent time in the library. I wasn't an earth-science graduate student and wasn't even a UC Berkeley student. I'm sure as a university employee, I had some library borrowing privileges, but I never looked into them. And I rarely carried my employee ID with me, so there were some libraries on campus I couldn't even get into, let alone borrow from. This library is perfect for studying and getting work done. I spent quite a bit of time here, both reading and grading, and I don't think I ever saw more than three other people at a time using the tables here. There are pretty cool maps here, and once, there were a couple of grad students examining one at a table just as I was about to leave. I made a comment about the strangeness of the map, and they were very nice and explained what they were studying and why the woman needed to have a partial copy of the map made for a paper she was working on. All way above my comprehension in a subject I know nothing about, but fascinating nonetheless. And I love maps. I normally conducted my office hours in Wheeler Hall, but they were constantly moving which room we could use while they remodeled rooms, so sometimes, we had very cramped, unappealing spaces. One semester, there were two wheelchair users in my class, so in addition to doing office hours in Wheeler, I also held them occasionally in an accessible cafe off campus and in the Earth Sciences & Map Library's group room. They were very kind about allowing me to make regular reservations without my employee ID and without even a berkeley.edu email address. (I technically had one, but I never set it up; I had all my students use my personal email address for all communications.) It's a small library on the first floor of a tall building. It doesn't have the best atmosphere, but it's not awful either. It's quiet and very clean. I don't think there are bathrooms on the first floor, so if you do spend some time here, you'll probably be going upstairs occasionally. If you time it right and if you know where to look, you can catch the sunset directly behind the Golden Gate Bridge from a particular balcony on a particular floor. Don't you want to visit now? You don't need any form of ID to entire the library, so it's technically open to the public, but I don't know what the policy on handling accessible materials is. It's all earth-science and topography specific, so I never looked at a book from the stacks, let alone took one out to read.

When I worked in McCone Hall (2015 to 2019, inclusive) my offices moved around (1st, 4th, 2nd…read morefloors). Below the first floor was a ground or basement level which housed the Earth Science and Maps Library. I frequented this library for looking at books and maps, utilizing the table work spaces, picking up books I had put on hold, and using the computer work spaces including the scanner and printer area. As part of orientation into the PhD program in the Department of Earth and Planetary Science (same building), we attended an informational session held by the head librarian in a small room in the library. All of the workers were professional in my experience. Other libraries I went to on campus, such as Physics, Chemistry, and Doe, required identification checks for entrance, this library was one of the few where that was not the case. Though, I did have to procure my card for picking up holds. There was also a returns slot where we could return books without entering the library. As a graduate student we could keep books and fines would accrue if they were late. However, if we eventually returned the item, the fines would be forgiven. One fateful occasion, I got to find out if this was true. My life had been chaotic and I had a number of library books checked out. It had passed a timeframe where the fines continued to accrue, meaning a flat rate was applied to each book. The fines came in at over $1000 (USD). Looking everywhere, I found the books, and returned them to the returns slot. Sure enough, once returned the fines were forgiven. Only one problem, one book had not been returned. I searched again and found nothing, so I went to the desk/counter and inquired about what to do. I was instructed to contact/go to the corresponding home library of the missing book (Physics) to go through the replacement process. It was just the one book on geometric phases of matter I had to replace in my 4+ years as a student. One aspect of the library I thought was pretty cool: the stacks were movable. Each stack had a crank on the side and could be moved closer to or further away from other stack(s) to access books on different stacks/shelves.

This library is so cute. I just walked in because I love checking out libraries. It's amazing how…read morethey're able to fit so much in such a small space. It's a single floor with the back area being the children's playroom. There's a single gender, neutral bathroom. Staff is very friendly.

Hey old friend 23 days ago I was born into the future haha ...old sign near the 1 bus and Lyon or…read morethe full house homes

What a great little library. On the first of May there was a long line around 4:15pm. I'm assuming…read morethere was some food distribution going on. My kiddo really enjoys the new Vox books. If they are not new they are certainly new to us. Vox books work like an audiobook and contain a little speaker on the book. Big hit in my household! Customer service was great. The person checking us out shared how to charge the books and appreciated my feedback on how much my child likes them. It might be the only public bathroom in the area. Big thank you for all the librarians and library team members that work to keep the doors open to the community!

The employees show concern and assist those who need help in regards of a book or locating PIC.read more

My hubby, our toddler and I stopped by on Saturday to kill sometime before dinner! Berkeley Public…read moreLibrary's kid section is great! Our almost 2 year old had a blast playing in their kitchen, hiding areas, with their huge stuffies, dolls, chalk, big wooden car, coloring and reading books with mommy! This library has been apart of the community since 1893! I love how you get to choose your own library card, she picked out some DVDS! Would return again, hopefully soon! SYOY! :-)

I can't ever not give public libraries 5 stars - the generous giver of knowledge, tools, and…read moreresources regardless of economics or geography - a safe space for all. Berkeley is a huge city so this is the main and largest one downtown - very limited parking, a lot of unhoused folks but it also means plentiful seating. Staff are friendly, so many cool activities, dedicated areas for kids, teens, and little surprises like the graphic novel nook.

I luv this library--small, just big enough for me to easily find the latest novels, classics, bios,…read moremysteries, history, travel, some nonfiction. Also, the librarians are very nice. I hardly expect to be treated like best friends, but I will always be polite. I've read this diatribe and I can see why this person was banned. If you don't like the library there are many others to visit--Albany, Berkeley Main, Oakland, El Cerrito. And this is just one opinion and nasty at that. If I didn't like it, I would just go elsewhere.

Awesome branch of the Berkeley Library system. Friendly staff work here. Smart book selection…read more Beautiful architecture. What is there not to like? Even the grounds it is on is beautiful with big trees. Recommended!

Beautiful library in a gorgeous location! Good selection of…read morebooks in the main library. Great little room where they hold various events and speakers for small-ish but mighty crowds. I attended a Ca State Park Ranger talk about finding wellness in nature at Mt Tam, which was very helpful! Also, there is a fantastic used bookstore where you can score some great second hand books for very low prices. I think I got about 4 or 5 books for under $10 total. Definitely come to this wonderful library!

My local Corte Madera branch is being remodeled. Although I like the Mill Valley branch which is…read moreclose by, parking is challenging around there, so I decided to request a book through Link Plus for pick up at the Belvedere Tiburon library since it has a large parking lot. It was my first time at this branch and I was immediately impressed by the modern appearance, bright natural light with the many large windows, high ceilings, and overall vast size of the library. The staff who helped me with my Link Plus request was courteous and efficient. I enjoyed a walk by the water after visiting the library. I look forward to this being my local branch for the summer!

Located after the main drag, which makes parking easier and they do have parking in the back offers…read morewhat most libraries do and then some. It has an interesting history. It used to be a hospital back in the day, so it's space was planned out perfectly. The city and people of Albany are able to use the rooms within there to do a lot of different activities not just as a library, but as a service to the community itself. The last time I went in for one of these, not looking for a book was when we had the Medicare. Meeting where they explained how Medicare works and all the different parts of it to anybody who's headed to that age that needs to be educated on how it works. People hung onto every word of it right there. They usually side rooms for wonderful things like that it's very informative. The library itself isn't huge like some public libraries in big cities, but it offers everything that everyone would need for a small community surrounding it. And I like the people that work there they're very courteous and helpful. It's always clean and there's plenty of space and I see all the tables are occupied by kids students and adults all working side-by-side together going through their books writing their papers all the different activities that are found in the library. It's a very modern design of a building and it offers so much to anybody that comes in there. Check their schedule of events there might be something for you.

I love a good library, I really do. And I was hoping to come here and find a study room or…read moresomething and be able to study. However this place is so small it was clearly created for the non-urban environment. What I mean is there were no study room. Also, there weren't enough seats to fit all the people who want to come to study. And that was frustrating because I spent a good amount of time walking around trying to find a place and the seats that were empty for social distancing reasons were not being used. I understand that but on a Sunday I was really hoping that wouldn't be an issue. The next thing is that there are tons of kids in there and although I'm a teacher, I choose not to hang around with kids when I'm not teaching. So that's just something I didn't know. I wanted to come here because they have more hours than Oakland. And they are closer to me than Oakland a Alameda. And Oakland library is filled with people who are homeless we're trying to stay out of the elements and I really get that. And honestly it wasn't a problem, besides a dirty table but I found another one that was just fine. But there needs to be a place where someone can study and not be distracted. I know I'm not the only one who believes that because another guy came in while I was there wanting a study room And was told that there were no study rooms. I can't imagine a Library doesn't have steady rules but I guess they exist. So it was disappointing. But they did get a extra star because they had a book giveaway of band books so that's why they have two stars I got some band books because other than that the trip was useless. I have high expectations because I went to Albany high school and I know that Albany has resources that other places don't have. Clearly they did not use them in this library, so while I may be an improvement over the one they had before, it is not a destination place for anything.

There's nothing like a pandemic to make you realize how you take the simple things in life for…read moregranted. Like the local community library. It's been in the same modest building since 1965. I mean doing things digitally is convenient, but some things require a more tactile approach. That's why when Kensington Library was closed for months on end I missed my ability to thumb through the latest People magazine, browse the DVD collection, or ask the staff to hold a particular book that I was unwilling to buy on Amazon. Yep, going to the library post-COVID, whenever or whatever that looks like, is not to be taken for granted again. RELATED - Exploring this part of Contra Costa County? Here's a collection of places I've visited and reviewed: https://bit.ly/2VyCP18

Very cute library on a hill. Always a parking spot, never too busy, quiet, cute kids play area.read more