Possibly the worst architectural design for a public building ever! And that's saying something in the Lower Mainland, which is infamous for a four decades-old housing failure epidemic even the courts refer to as 'leaky condo crisis.' Could this building be any more awkward?
Whose bright idea was it to house the library in the same building as the Surrey RCMP detachment? Whoever you are, please stay away from urban planning and egad! construction. One is hard-pressed to think of a more inappropriate coupling or a less accessible design.
This library is not only poorly signed at street level - I dare you to find the entrance! - there are quite a number of stairs to climb to get to it. There is an elevator, yes, but good luck finding it at street level. Good luck finding the parking lot, too, the first time.
The hostility doesn't end there, either. This is a library with no quiet space! Absolutely none! At 4 p.m., the tables and chairs are all occupied by Asian students talking away at one another without inhibition. Unfortunately, our own quiet Ocean Park branch, did not have a copy of the reference book needed so there was no choice but to persevere. Happily, in view of the prevailing noise levels, which continued unabated, I was able to persuade the librarian to permit me to borrow the damn thing overnight. Hint: STRONGLY suggest moving popular reference texts from this branch to libraries that actually have reference sections and/or quiet reading rooms.
Semiahmoo branch felt more like a high school library reserved exclusively for Asian teenagers, who are not restricted in any way from talking with one another. Have librarians simply given up?
Like Vancouver libraries, Surrey's are also all wildly overstaffed. So many highly-paid librarians, so few books, movies and CDs. What do they all do all day, one wonders? Why not direct resources instead at the installation of desperately needed washrooms in city parks and along popular pedestrian walkways like more civilized communities?
Ultimately the city should consider a more appropriate, more accessible, more attractive location for such an obviously popular resource. In the meantime, PLEASE place signs to ensure patrons have a quiet place to read. Wall off a room students can book if they need to talk. The default position at a library must be for quiet. read more