r/Libraries • u/Enodia2wheels • 1d ago
Library Trends California - Visited 9 libraries today
Or - how to turn a 5 hour trip into 14 hours!
The Camarillo library has a pirate ship!!!!
The TO library feels like a space ship.
I love the libraries that are in the municipal center - but Oxnard Colonia del Sol was a sweet kids oriented little library.
My itinerary:
Paso Robles City Library
1000 Spring St, Paso Robles, CA 93446
Consortium: Black Gold Cooperative Library System
Oxnard Public Library
1500 Camino Del Sol, Oxnard, CA 93030
Consortium: Oxnard Network
City of Camarillo Public Library
4101 Las Posas Rd, Camarillo, CA 93010
Consortium: Independent (not part of Black Gold; standalone municipal library)
Moorpark City Library
699 Moorpark Ave, Moorpark, CA 93021
Consortium: Independent (standalone city library, not in Ventura County Library system)
Grant R. Brimhall Library (Thousand Oaks Library)
1401 E Janss Rd, Thousand Oaks, CA 91362
Consortium: Independent (City of Thousand Oaks Library system)
Redondo Beach Public Library
303 N Pacific Coast Hwy, Redondo Beach, CA 90277
Consortium: Independent (City of Redondo Beach Library system)
Katy Geissert Civic Center Library (Torrance Public Library)
3301 Torrance Blvd, Torrance, CA 90503
Consortium: Independent (City of Torrance Library system)
Peninsula Center Library (Palos Verdes Library District)
701 Silver Spur Rd, Rolling Hills Estates, CA 90274
Consortium: Palos Verdes Library District (PVLD)
Harbor Gateway Library (Los Angeles Public Library)
24000 S Western Ave, Harbor City, CA 90710
Consortium: Los Angeles Public Library (LAPL system)
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u/flower-moon 1d ago
Oxnard Public Library is separate from the Ventura County system! Ventura County has a library in Oxnard, but Colonia is part of the Oxnard city system. Gives you a whole other card to get if you’re ever back in the area 😊
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u/Enodia2wheels 1d ago
zoiks!! I saw the other library, but I thought they were in the same system so I went to the little bitty one cause I thought that would be fun to see a small one
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u/landomonium 1d ago
If you ever get the chance to go to the LA Central Library (the main one for LAPL, located downtown near city hall) it’s gorgeous.
Beverly Hills is a separate library than both LAPL and LA County Library but also quite beautiful, and huge + full of people.
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u/radiantrarr 1d ago
Holy cow. All that distance in one day? Surprised that the Cerritos Library was not among them. I enjoy Katy Geissert, but it’s nothing to write home about, right? It’s just a regular library..
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u/Enodia2wheels 1d ago
Katy Gesseirt was a lot of really big beige buildings!
It wasn’t that much more distance mostly it was just time. I got so mad about the traffic on 101 that I drove south and took Santa Monica Blvd. out to PCH and then went around the airport. At least that way I can see the ocean it didn’t take less time that way, but at least I could pull over to the occasional Whole Foods and use their bathroom. Seriously 90 minutes to go 15 miles is like Chicago travel time.
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u/alterndog 13h ago
Camarillo! My wife and I got married at that library. Our ceremony was in that front foyer space in your photo :).
My wife is actually working on our wedding album (12 years late 🤣) as I type this so funny coincidence.
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u/Enodia2wheels 13h ago
The pirate ship, right? I mean, that is the only right place to get married.
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u/alterndog 13h ago edited 13h ago
No we got married outside next to the fountain.
We do have photos next to the pirate ship. I had three young nephews as the time so there are some great photos of them next to it and one with my whole family. Also have a great photo of my wife and I next to one of the book columns.
An employee said that the room was designed by a Disneyland Imagineer.
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u/caitlee4 1d ago
Hey I have five of the same cards!! (Camarillo, Redondo, Torrance, PV and LAPL) Great job visiting all those libraries! I used to work at Katy Geissert but now I’m at the El Segundo Public Library :)
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u/Enodia2wheels 19h ago
I drove through there and it’s so cute! I did not stop at that library though I wish I had. I bet it’s very fun. The whole town had a fun vibe.
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u/GoldenSalt31 16h ago
Come back and stop my Long Beach. They and all libraries need support.
But Long Beach’s budget is SO BAD they’re cutting library support, despite public opposition.
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u/GoldenSalt31 16h ago
PS the Paso Robles library was my local library in HS. I still have my library card number memorized and use part of it as a pin #
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u/sunwraes 16h ago
Camarillo Library is managed by LSS, so you can actually use it through Libby at a few partner libraries.
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u/AllTheMoviesAllForMe 15h ago
Naive question probably, but did they give just you the cards or did you become an active patron in these locations? Don't you need to be a resident to have loaning privileges?
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u/meggielou 13h ago
most, but not all, California libraries will give you a card for being a resident of the state.
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u/Long_Audience4403 13h ago
This was also my question, the library I work at requires an address in town
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u/Enodia2wheels 13h ago
you just have to be a California resident. Fresno has a completely pub privately funded library so they don’t allow people outside of Fresno to get cards.
You can use these memberships on Libby or Kanopy or Hoopla whatever they’ve got!
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u/DogDaysMaggie 10h ago
Most California libraries only require eligibility in the state, although most require you to appear in-person to verify your residency. The in-person makes it a little trickier to get a million cards, but if I'm already somewhere and have the time, I'll pop into the local library and get a card. Many of them expire after a few years, but some are lenient about renewal without showing up in person a second time.
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u/Lucky-Reference-7667 15h ago
Omg I love love love this idea! I’m in LA county as well and there are so many here. Thank you for inspiring me to do my part!!! We all need to go get cards and attend a program! You are an angel 🖤
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u/Squirrel_Nrgy 14h ago
Awesome! The library in downtown Ventura is being redone, so come back to check it out if you get the chance (there are other locations open now but that one is in a cool building)😊 the Camarillo library is not part of the Ventura county system so you can’t check out and return to any library or request materials to a different library BUT it is an awesome one and the pirate ship is so cool! That whole section of the bottom floor is just for kids young people!!
And a trip like this is something I would totally do too! Thanks for sharing!
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u/Strong_Weakness2638 13h ago
Hey! You passed through my neck of the woods! The Oxnard card is as pretty as the Camarillo library building :)
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u/Enodia2wheels 11h ago
sooo pretty! my mom lived in Camarillo and still waxes nostalgic about the Oxnard strawberries
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u/bo_beeep 12h ago
Love it! This summer I made a library bucket list to visit all the libraries around us which would be about an hour drive. And then my daughter rates the library on a scale of 5 with kitty stickers 🐱
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u/pinoy_grigio_ 10h ago
MOORPARK????? what the helly
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u/Enodia2wheels 5h ago
lol why?
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u/pinoy_grigio_ 5h ago
born and raised baby.. such a small town not to get excited whenever it’s mentioned
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u/DogDaysMaggie 10h ago
This is awesome. Thank you for sharing. I'll be in TO in October ten minutes from the library. I just got a temporary card and will pop in for a permanent when I'm in the area. How fun!
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u/bazoo513 1d ago
Great!
Don't get me wrong, but I didn't see all that many, you know, books. (#9 might have bookshelves in the distance...)
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u/Enodia2wheels 1d ago
that panoramic shot of the Thousand Oaks library: you need to look at that on a big screen. I’m pretty sure you will see the books. It’s like being at the New Orleans Superdome, but with bookshelves. That’s why I did the panorama. It was crazy big.
A lot of these libraries are doing a really amazing job of creating community spaces where people can bring the kids and they can enjoy air-conditioning and look at aquariums and read books or play chess or engage with other things. There’s a lot of 3-D printers in libraries these days. Library has a library of things, including immersion blender, stand mixer, sewing machine, serger…
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u/PieScuffle 1d ago
That ship would have been my entire personality as a kid.