Update: I keep trying to like this library and it only gets worse. God forbid you should want to go to the library on the weekend in the summer, particularly July and August, because it is open THREE HOURS DURING THE ENTIRE WEEKEND. Yup, if you are a working person and you don't get there between 9 and 12 on Saturday, you are SOL. Plus, now you pay for parking in the library parking lot, and the parking situation is even worse because parking at the back of the lot is reserved for another building. This is an awful, awful library. Of all the places I've lived, this is the absolutel worst library I've ever experienced. Oh, and now there's only ONE automated checkout. This is truly lame - and Arlington has insanely high taxes, so I have no idea what they're using the money for.
I love libraries and have sought them out (and used them) wherever I've lived. I don't understand the 5-star reviews for Robbins Library. Perhaps it's because I've been spoiled by the wonderful, fabulous, huge, technologically advanced, friendly, well-stocked, and ethnically diverse Cambridge library. With Robbins: there's often no place to park, exacerbated by recent construction on Mass. Ave. I had books to return today, for instance, and for the second time I drove through the parking lot and found nada. There was also no parking on the street. Also, they don't have a big enough staff, so you have to line up for help. Unlike the Cambridge library, they don't have many (TWO?) electronic check-out devices (which adds to the line) - on the other hand, maybe that's because so many people in Arlington seem to be older and technologically NOT advanced, so they prefer to have someone check out their books for them. I dunno. I am not impressed. But then again, perhaps it's because I've seen what a truly fantastic library can be, and this isn't even remotely close to that. Luckily, I can still go to the Cambridge library since I'm only in the next town. read more