County of Los Angeles Public Library – Walnut Library

noisiest county library i have been to。First time here thu around one pm。All kids，dont they have school？Not an ideal place if your looking to study or for some peace and quiet。one star is for cleanlinest and lots of outlets at tables。Library is very small with one section of tables so you cant go off to a quiet corner。

Nice place! Loved there kids book area. The computers for kids is a great idea. They are hook up with educational programs. VERY clean and! The books are in great shape.

Pros:
–Clean
–Free Wi-​Fi (requires CoLA library card)
–A lot of tables with 4 outlets at each
Cons:
–Small
–No clear divide between adult and kid section so expect lots of noise
–Packed, even when I went on a Friday at 3pm (mainly kids and their parents)
–Flat layout — you can see everyone and they can see you (harder to concentrate when there are no independent cubicles)
Overall, good library but seems more kid-​oriented. I probably won’t be back to study.

Strange rules here from the management — study rooms are reserved for 2 hours at a time which is ok. I used up 2 hours and then was told I could not go in even if the next person was ok with it. Weird.
Also — apparently you cannot move chairs around. This little girl moved over a chair to study with her buddies and was told she could not sit with them. I would understand if they were being disruptive but she hadn’t even sat down yet.
Overall it is a good library but now they open at 1pm which is pretty late. I live in Walnut so it would be really nice to get up in the morning and study here.
Wifi did not work on my mac for some reason so I used my phone. Also some outlets on their tables do not work so I just plugged into the outlet int he wall.

Very organized, neat and parking is good. They have great books for kids and a very cozy section for readers. Checking outs and returning books are easy, restroom is clean. And less crowded compared to other libraries around the area… superb!

This local library is tiny. But, they have children’s storytime and at least my children are getting exposed to books and the library. The librarian who does the storytime is awesome, and it is much more organized than the West Covina branch. The kids love it.
They may not have the newest books but since it is part of the LA county library system, another larger library does and it is very easy to put one on hold. I then wait for my email once it has been delivered and pick it up.
I usually go in the mornings so have not experienced the after school crowd, rather the morning crowd is very small. Serving a primarily asian community, there are a ton of books and magazines in different Asian languages. The librarians are some of the most friendly ones I have met. And the used book sale area is tiny, but I have definitely found some gems.
*Yelp 100 Challenge: Review 82/​100*

Very average, similar to the ones built around the same era in Hacienda Heights and Rowland Heights. The staff there are helpful but it is just a little community library. At least it’s part of the LA County Library System so you can return/​renew books you borrowed elsewhere. They really need to invest in some money and renovate it like the Diamond Bar Library. Walnut can afford it. :)

This is a nice and cute place. Quite and they have events, which are awesome.

Small library thus small selection onsite; however, you can always request books within the County of Library system to be sent here. Staff is helpful. Free wi-​fi. Activities for kids during the week and during the summer. Wish it was open 7 days a week. Plenty of parking.

At about 2 o’clock, this place transforms into an after-​school «daycare» with most of 30+ kids hanging out, chatting endlessly, and basically wasting time.
Parents, you live in Walnut. You have money to lump your kid into an affordable after-​school book club or to sign up for oboe lessons!
Staff does absolutely nothing about the noise and just allows it to be the norm. What a waste of our tax dollars. Seriously. This is something that should be brought up to one of our City Counsel meetings…
If you’re here to study or to read in silence, forget about it. Hopefully if this changes, I can update this to 4 or even 5 stars since it actually seems like a nice, quiet, and quaint library.

Very very small… and feels stuffy and unorganized.
However, since this library is closest to home. I have all my materials transferred here and find them on the «HOLD» shelf. I guess convenience is really the only reason I find myself here.
Staff is helpful but seem understaffed/​stressed. =\

Small library = small selection. Some days it may be difficult to find a table to sit at. The staff is helpful. There are some computers available for internet use. Other than that, I haven’t used any of the other resources that are available. I only come here to check out books for my son. He seems to enjoy the selection this library has to offer even though the selection is very limited. I enjoy the weekly activities/​events they have for children (even more so during the summer time). That’s pretty much it. Nothing too impressive. It will do for now, but I’m willing to drive farther for a larger one.

I was considering giving the library a three in an attempt to be understanding, but honestly I’m really disappointed with the book selection and, most importantly, the general environment/​aura within Walnut Library; I’ve been here about 5 – 6 times for research or just to kick back and kill time, and my impression of the library has yet to change.
The library itself is very small. I’m not trying to compare it to a university library, a B&N, or a thrifty book shop. In comparison to say, the Azusa Library, Glendora Library, or any of the libraries in Riverside, the square footage (and the material within) are outdated and do not have enough capacity for everyone that a good sized library should have. They have a small reference section, a small Adult fiction section, some sparse CD collection, as well as a smattering of audio books, video, and a small classics section (which got thrown in with the young adult readings). Their children’s section (juvenile fiction), however, takes up about half of the library. I guess this would be swell for the local parents with young children in K-​2, but saying that Mt. SAC and Cal Poly Pomona are so close by, and that the surrounding community is relatively affluent, you’d think that they’d invest more in the library system. Far from it.
The most bothersome (the completely unforgivable factor) is that this library off of La Puente is virtually a free baby sitting place to dump your kids after school. I don’t think it’s really fair for the library staff to deal with them — they were not hired or trained to do daycare work. The reference librarian looked to be a Nazi (and I thought he was at first) when it came to dealing with the kids, but now I see why he seemed like he was walking around with a stick up his yoohoo. Though some students are making a good effort to study and do their homework, the rest use this place as a time to chit-​chat with your friends, spin coins, listen to loud music, and do everything but — they have no respect for the library setting whatsoever. The only reason why this place has an additional star is because the guy actually helped me get my library account and Wi-​Fi working, and was attentive, despite all the kids messing around (there’s this one girl who’s always here, and makes me wonder how the future generation will turn out). From 2:30 until 6:00, Tuesday through Friday, there are more kids from the local elementary, middle (especially middle), and high schools than adults… they fill every seat that might be available (library hours: T-​F 1PM-​8PM!!!). The only seat that was available today when I first walked in was in the study room, which ended up being a hotbox for body odor (ladies and gentlemen: PLEASE, brush your teeth and shower regularly, because that room was just disgusting, and only one individual above the age of 18 can be in there at one time). It doesn’t help that the room has no ventilation. It was so intolerable, I left and sat in the only available area that had a seat: the Laptop Stations. The other four seats next to me have kids just sitting there. Two are legitimately doing work/​reading, the other two are just sleeping and/​or playing on their iPods. Oh yes, I failed to mention: their Laptop Section is in the kids section (talk about bad Feng Shui). The kids have more computers than the adults (5 versus 4), and the computer limits are about 45min-​1hr long. Bring your own laptop if you must come here. Warning: Expect a 13kbps rate — I couldn’t even listen to Pandora due to the slow internet… all I want to do is block out all these noisy kids (note: also, bring ear buds).
If I wasn’t so short on money, I’d go to Starbucks or some other place to relax… I’m 22 and usually love kids — I’ve done many a community service project involving children and was an AVID student myself, but it’s pretty obvious no one loves the ones left here, because they just leave ‘em here to do whatever they want until some parent or guardian shows up. This breaks my heart & kills the environment for the rest trying to use the library as originally intended.

Very surprised this library hasn’t been reviewed yet. I didn’t grow up going to the Walnut Library (I instead went to the Diamond Bar and Rowland Heights libraries) and first came here maybe 10 years ago.
I needed a place to sit down and study (I am cold blooded. Like a lizard. BOOO on the blasting 103 degree heat baking my house. Or is it hiss? What DO lizards sound like? Maybe they’re like pokemon and say LIZZZARD. I’m such a dork). For some reason, I associated the Walnut Library more with studying far more than its peers, so off I went.
When I arrived, there was a HUGEEEE group of kids deciding to visit and stay (maybe they were lizards as well? That would explain everything and nothing). Navigated the sea of surprisingly well behaved small lizards (for some unsurprising reason, everybody here is Asian) and eventually seated myself at a desk between two 10 year old girls. One of them was drawing a picture for her friends birthday. In CRAYON and MARKERS.
Stricken by sheer terror, I cowered behind my hot pink Cal binder and studied away. I must say, the color let me blend in quite naturally and easily, as the girls didn’t attack me with their lizard paws and baby teeth. Phew. Even baby lizards could be dangerous, don’t judge me.
Parking is easy here, with a fairly large lot that is never full. And it has an A/​C system that works well. And its free to stay here. Just beware of the lizards.