Arcata Library

A small county library doing their best to support the needs of families and the homeless. This is not easy when the library is essentially one room. It seems to me that the staff are making decisions in good faith and are trying their best to make the space welcoming to as many as possible.

We love the Arcata library! So glad they have expanded hours on Thursday evenings now. Everyone who works here is always, always friendly and polite, which is amazing. Even the police officer who monitors the main area is nice. I love bringing our 5 year old here. They're serious about keeping the kids' section safe for kids. I'm part of their book club, too, and the leader librarian Susan Parsons is just a gem of the community. She also leads kids' activities and organizes events for kids in Arcata. We love this little library. It's amazing how much it does for our family.

The librarian here strictly enforces a system by which all spaces in the library are reserved for specific purposes, most of which nobody uses. The result is a small corner of the room that is unreserved space becomes very crowded and stays that way while the rest of the room stays empty. If someone strays from that corner, an armed guard ushers them back or ejects them. The librarian wears a thick sweater and leaves the door propped open. The draft from that door goes straight into that crowded corner. I believe this librarian hates homeless people and all these practices are to discourage them from using the library. Update: I wrote to the library. They agreed to retrain the staff about service dog rules but after that they locked me out when they saw me coming with my dog. I think a civil rights lawsuit is the only remedy and I'm looking into filing one on my own pro se

My daughter was able to get online and get here work done. I got a call while waiting and the librarian gave me a hard time. She had no problem walking around the library talking. They did have both doors open so people had to walk around in the rain to get in.

Arcata library is small, but the collection is wonderful. Half is set apart for the children and the other half is for adults. There are three computers for one hour use without the need for a library card. Wifi is offered along with very clean bathrooms. Staff is beyond helpful and friendly. Lots of homeless frequent at this location which can be awkward is why I chose 4 stars. EDIT: Sadly my first impression of this library was wrong. They are not open Sunday or Monday, and whoever does their computer networking doesn't come around very much. WiFi has been down for over two weeks as well. One of their computers for use has been "broken" even though they can't tell me whats wrong with it. I asked to look at it for them. They promptly refused me. Great books, but no understanding of furthering technology.

Staff is very nice and yesterday was my first day providing security at the Library. So far everyone followed the rules and my boss at the Library is the nicest lady in the whole wide world.

I observed the librarian call the police on a man for using an electrical outlet. He was working, not belligerent, very polite and not doing anything wrong that I could see. Her reason was the man was physically too large (try saying that to a woman!) and he might deter others from using the area, then changing her mind she said he was monopolizing the outlet. The officers arrived and were awesome, didn’t require the man to leave, in fact, they didn’t really want to say anything to him, but asked nicely if he would share his outlet, or something to that effect. Now two in number, the librarians were getting mad and on a little power trip, saying “ you have to do anything I say even if it isn’t a library rule or a law.” Do yourself a favor, drive a little further and stay clear of this so-called community service paid for by your taxes or you might find yourself up against the wall. Scary place.

They lock their doors 10 minutes before they close. Just got here at 4:51pm along with 2 other patrons and we were all told they wouldn't let us in, even if you have something as simple as a pick-up. Ehhh.