While the Collingwood branch of the Vancouver Public Library system is technically in my…read moreneighbourhood and is the closest library to my home, I never go. In my 10+ years of living in the Collingwood area, I've only gone to this library maybe two or three times to return books, and only once have I stepped foot in it, as I have usually returned my books in the book drop. I have never gone to this branch to borrow or pick up a book, or for any of the other reasons I go to the library. The reason for this is not because I don't use libraries - quite the contrary! I go to the library at least a couple times a month (in fact, I'm currently the duchess of the central branch!), but the hours are extremely limited (it's closed on Mondays -- one of my days off -- and only open for a few hours on Sundays), and the location of the Collingwood branch is so damn inconvenient that it's easier and quicker for me to hop on the skytrain and go downtown.
The Collingwood branch is located on the corner of Kingsway and Rupert, and while I suppose that there are people who must find this convenient, it's not at all a central location for most of the people living in the Collingwood area. The majority of the people in the Collingwood neighbourhood, such as myself, are not that close to Kingsway and Rupert, and in order for me to get there, it's at least a 20 minute walk, one way, uphill, or, a bus ride that due to the timing of the buses, locations of the stops, and the amount of walking required, would still take me a minimum of 20 minutes, one way, and that's only if the wait time between buses is at a minimum (I can't even get there with ONE bus -- the trip requires a connection between two buses!). So, a trip to and from the library would take me at least an hour. It wouldn't be that bad if the library were near anything, such as a grocery store, as that way I could combine it with other errands, but there is nothing near the library, and spending one hour just to return or pick up a book is ridiculous.
All of that aside, the intersection of Kingsway and Boundary is awful. It's an extremely busy intersection with multiple lanes of traffic, confusing lights, and cars speeding by. It's such an unpleasant and dangerous intersection in an ugly area that the Collingwood Library is not a place I would go, unless I absolutely had to -- and due to the skytrain and the ease at getting downtown, I don't have to.
The Collingwood area is growing, with several condos being built, but the area is not being properly developed (an upgraded skytrain with an A&W doesn't cut it). The area needs more grocery stores, coffee shops that aren't Tim Hortons, a community center (the Collingwood Neighbourhood House is not a proper community center, as there is no fitness center), and a better library. I'd love to see something similar to the Mount Pleasant branch, in which the library is in the same building as the community center.
Two stars, because hey, a library is better than no library. But the location and the hours of this branch make it such an undesirable branch, that even though I live "near by" and go to the library several times a month, I never go to this branch.
[Yelp collections: Libraries and Bookstores]