Ramona Community Library

Outstanding.
I’ve been to Poway, Santee, and Rancho San Diego as well. None are as well conceived and executed as our branch in Ramona, we are truly spoiled up here.
Ramona’s library is amazingly spacious with a very well designed parking lot. The front entrance has «courtyard» with a façade, and there’s an automated drop-​off conveyer for 24 – 7 returns. Occasionally, the librarians forget to put tape in the machine for receipts, but I’m going to allow this.
Two sets of automated doors on the Main Street side and the parking lot side cleanly glide open to blast you with a nipple-​hardening, T-​shirt piercing 67 degree air conditioned Chinook. Upon entering it’s majesty you are surrounded by modern 2700K lighting in an atrium spanning 23′ at it’s peak. Further inside, museum displays of local topic behold trinkets from the community. Recently, the 3D printer (they have a 3-​D printer!) made Star Wars memorabilia; my personal favorite is the Rastafarian colored Yoda bust.
And that’s when you see it: THE MOVIES. It’s like the county library gutted Blockbuster the day before they went belly up. I’ve been able to see countless titles since frequenting the SD library system. The best deals are when they have recent Blu-​rays of hit TV shows like Orange is the New Black, and of hot topic movies. I’ve seen releases here that you’d get at the Red Box or from Netflix in standard definition, on Blu-​ray at the Ramona branch! And the rentals are 7-​days! FREE! U-​N-​L-​I-​M-​I-​T-​E-​D!!! How can you beat that? That’s the one downside to the library. Everyone in Ramona is a customer for free and convenience. So sometimes there’s weekly waiting for shows to come to the branch.
The ambience is sublime. There’s a nook called The Living Room with comfy chairs that have swiveling writing boards on them. Right behind the chairs, a fireplace! I’m not making this up. It’s gas, and they light it on winter days.
If that wasn’t enough, there’s SIX separate study rooms that the library reserves for tutoring, business meetings, studio sessions, etc. Each one has multiple outlets and they’re fairly sound resistant. There’s a 2-​hour limit, but I think I’ve received an extension at least once…
No library is without it’s community sponsored events, and Ramona has dozens. There’s women’s Zumba on Friday mornings, story time every morning starting between 10:30 and 11:00, chess club on Mondays mornings, yoga on Wednesday mornings, I can go on. There’s always somebody partying in the community room with some sort of event.
Lastly, the library is one of the few places in town with reliable Wi-​Fi. It’s 801.11G, but it’s better than no Wi-​Fi. It also has a fairly sensitive filter from the main branch. So even if you’re not trying to look up something NSFW, it may trip it due to the library being a public network that’s considered family safe. You can get kicked off of news articles if they have graphic images in them.
The Ramona branch is a haven for media enthusiasts, book lovers, community programs, people who need internet, and kids who like to socialize after school. Yes, it also gets a few transients, but way less than the Santee branch gets. It’s open everyday except Sunday and major holidays. It also closes later @ 8:30 on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I recommend it to anybody and everybody who has the time to see the best library in town!

The amenities are nice — slower than normal WiFi, clean restrooms, crisp air conditioner and a decent selection of books. My complaint would be that some librarians operate different than others. One day I answered a call from my husband and was speaking very softly when I was asked to leave by a male librarian. I came in a couple days later and there’s a woman walking around the entire library speaking in a loud voice so I went and asked a female librarian to handle it and she suggested I put on headphones and did NOT ask the woman to get off of the phone. Just wish the staff was consistent in the rules and standards that are enforced.

The Ramona County Public Library hosted the Local Assistance Center after the July rains that flooded the area. The staff is very helpful and friendly, but in this age of technology the bookshelves are starting to look very barren. They have a few computers but it seems like they’re stuck in an awkward spot between the two eras of media.

It’s a small library but the used bookstore is awesome. The third Saturday of the month — books are even cheaper than usual. I love books like I love shoes and I can’t help adding to my collection.

This library is great! Good selection of everything. If they don’t have what you want, the helpful staff will help you get it.
Our library has great FREE programs for all ages! Today I went to a line dance class and had fun. They offer yoga, art, zumba, ballet folklorico, computer classes and more.
They are open convenient hours.
Great to have this place in our community.

Nice, modern, clean library with really helpful staff.
I usually just pick up books that I’ve requested online, but the library is so pleasant that I usually end up wandering around to see what’s new. Last time I found a really cool book, «My Librarian Is a Camel: How Books Are Brought to Children Around the World».
Easy self-​checkout and LOVE the automated check-​in shelf outside so you can get a receipt off-​hours or when you just don’t feel like going in. Great library all the way around!