Canada Water Library

Lovely, filled with books, activities for kids, a lovely place for reading.

The library is quite nice and seems to offer a wide range of references. Do not go there if you intend to find peace and quiet to study as there are always some toddlers activities going on and the song alongs are annoying. You’d think they would held those activities in separate rooms but no. And do not go there if you need to use the Internet. It never works, which is pretty frustrating.

Lovely library, nice carpet, friendly staff, café on the ground floor, excellent graphic novel section, and great views. Only downside is that if you are in the reference section, it can be annoying as people are walking around you noisily to look at the books. It is nice and light and not dingy like some libraries. They also have some free events going on. Nice watching the wildlife too. It is also multicultural.

free wi-​fi, computers, cheap printing services, helpful staff, DVD rentals, language courses, books and magazines + a café.
I love this library, it is nice to go to and they have automated all the services so you can check out a book yourself or extend it via website!

The library is decent and they have a nice coffee shop downstairs, however there is little study space and it is super noisy. It is the only library in London where you will have to put up with large groups of kids and toddlers screaming, singing in the same space as people trying to read and study. A complete nightmare if you are going to a library for peace and quiet on your research or project. Never turn up on a monday morning between 10 – 12 am or you will expect mayhem. Personnally I dont go to libraries for screaming toddlers and cheesy Christmas carrols on a weekly basis, this is not the place.

Decent library, good stock of books, air-​conditioned. I can’t think of anything else you’d need from a library other than helpful staff and wi-​fi, both of which are also available here.

A nice and modern (and brand new, opening in November 2011) library right between Canada Water tube station and the actual Canada Water [lake]. It is a striking building, jutting outward at an acute angle to the ground, fitting with the modern buildings in the area.
Inside, there’s a café on the ground floor, and you have to go upstairs to actually enter the library. There are a good amount of seats and study spaces on both floors of the library, but you’ll need some luck most days to find an open space. Lots of kids also end up making a lot of noise, so it’s not exactly the best place for a quiet read, but if the weather outside is shitty, it’s worth popping in.
Also, there’s allegedly free wifi, but I couldn’t get it to work on my phone. Somebody fix this.

The new Canada Water Library is amazing! Especially from the outside! My hubby and I think it looks like a Sand Crawler out of Star Wars, which gives it a big tick in our book and we hadn’t even been inside yet! I was slightly disappointed that there wasn’t a bigger fanfare about it opening (opened in November), but that might be because I don’t read the local news!
This library is really convenient, being right next to the tube station. It’s also very well designed, with a coffee shop on the ground floor and some conference rooms/​meeting rooms that can be rented out. The library seems to have a big range of books and it all feels very informal. On the upper floor, they have the special interest books, study areas and a lounging area with a great view of the pond. It’s also a self-​service library (like the Idea Stores in Tower Hamlets), which means (hooray!) no queuing! The variety of books seems wider than Idea Stores, which already appeals to me. I’m really happy to have a library which is so close to where I live!