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San Diego County Library
Rating Details »
Neighborhood: La Mesa
8074 Allison Ave.
(between University Ave & Date Ave)
La Mesa, CA 91941
(619) 469-2151
8074 Allison Ave.
(between University Ave & Date Ave)
La Mesa, CA 91941
(619) 469-2151
5 reviews for San Diego County Library
I just moved out of the SD city Library system, which has amazing libraries that I have been going to for decades. Needless to say I have high expectations for my place of borrowing. I like the new building here though! It shares a small very small parking lot with the new Fire Station/museum. People are always waiting for one of the 8 spots available. Lots of honking and blinkers blinking.
Your best bet is to bike in or walk in. Mondays are always packed in here! Maybe every day is, because it isn't the hugest of libraries, but it is quite sizable for what they carry. A very large kids section, with all kinds of books, mags, and comics- even two computers for them!
The largest music section I've seen at any library!! I don't even have to download music off the internet anymore, I just borrow cd's here and listen/burn them. It has led to some great finds. Dvd's are here by the car load too. I always thought they would have lame movies only, but they actually have brand new releases (for FREE) which is nice if you don't want to deal with the crowds at the big video stores, and pay almost 6 bucks for any movie.
Great selection of books, obviously. There aren't really any too quiet spots to sit down and read though, because the setup inside is like a big room, no separation of kids/teen/study/internet sections. So, it is hard for a guy like me to delve into what I'm reading here. Just get what you need and get the frick out. The staff is pretty nice too, they always answer your questions.
One thing that is weird to me- they check out video games now!? Isn't the whole point of the library system to get people away from that sort of thing? I know they just want to have everything to draw people in, but that seems odd. I bet some parents don't know about the games, and they send their kids to the library for kind of a punishment, and the kid is stoked because he can get games, hang out in the cave-y teen lounge, and check out dvd's of whatever cartoon they recently made about a playing card game.
enough already.
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This place always smells so stale to me. The selections are pretty good and the staff is always willing to quickly transfer books from another library.
A few summers ago I think I read more books from here than I had read in my entire life.
Oh, and the children's section takes me back. It's still fun to go sit in there some days and flip through all the books I used to love.
I don't know when, but they are closing this place down and moving it a newer and improved library in the same parking lot, apparently a part of a La Mesa Community Building remodel.
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It's not the biggest library, but it doesn't have to be when it's connected to the San Diego County system - you can just go to their website, search the database, request a book/dvd/CD/etc., and it will be sent to the library. The hold shelves are right by the front door - just look for your name, grab your stuff, and self-checkout. You can be in and out in under a minute with a stack of goodies (which is VERY handy with two small children.) The children's area is small, but very nice, with tons of puzzles and games to occupy the kids. They have multiple story times (weekly "lap babies", toddler, preschool, and bi-monthly bilingual) and lots of other programs for everyone. They even have video games for all systems. Very nice!
I have two library cards, San Diego libraries, and San Diego county libraries for when my other one has too many fines ( I suck at returning things on time! ah). This one happens to be closest to my house. Their music selection is AMAZING compared to SD libraries. (prefuse 73, morcheeba, boards of canada, portishead, iron and wine, jazz music etc etc)
Apparently SD county libraries are a little more liberal than SD libraries because i checked a book out about medical marijuana (ha ha). They have a GREAT selection of oversized books and books in spanish. I would definately rather come here any day than san carlos branch or benjamin branch.
Requesting books is FREE unlike sd libraries which charge you a dollar an item. YAY for libraries!
If I write a glowing review for the Chandler AZ library I have to give kudos to the La Mesa Library also because this is the one that gets most of my business, so to speak. I sometimes go weeks without coming here and other times am here two or three times in a week, depending on my needs and deadlines. I check out mostly audio books and sometimes CD's and DVD's. The librarians are always knowledgeable and helpful. If I have fines I pay them cheerfully knowing they will go to purchase more books etc for everyone's enjoyment. Sometimes if I don't want to fork out the money for a certain CD I can check it out here and burn a copy before returning it. I used to practically support Blockbuster until I found out I could check out videos here for free. I will miss this old girl when they finish building the new one right next door.
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