August 2, 2010: Berkeley West Branch

How not to start a "weekly" blog:
1. Post twice.
2. Move across the country; have no internet access for three weeks; neglect posting for four weeks.

Hi. Sorry about that. My internet access is back, and so am I.


One of the tough things about leaving Berkeley was saying goodbye to its public library system. Berkeley has five libraries. According to my exhaustive and rigorous research, this puts it slightly ahead of most of its neighbors in terms of library facilities per capita, and WAY ahead of some of the East Coast communities where I spent much of my life. And the quality of these libraries, I believe, really tells you something about Berkeley as a city.

Consider, for instance, the West Branch, which was our local library for the past two years.


The West Branch is not located in a very ritzy part of town. The building itself is pretty unprepossessing, and one of its closest neighbors is a large and popular 99 Cent Only store. The surrounding area is very socioeconomically diverse; there are plenty of well-educated middle-class households, but I'd also wager more lower-income and non-English-speaking homes than anywhere else in town. It seems to me that the Berkeley Public Library system has allocated its resources accordingly, and poured a lot of programming, staffing, and materials into the West Branch.

On our last full day in Berkeley, my son and I paid a visit to our beloved local branch.


This Lego table is the primary reason I can really say this place is beloved by both of us. Our visits almost always begin and end here; it's smack dab in the middle of the children's section, and the kiddo makes a full-body lunge for it as soon as he sees it.


I am sure that the library's main reason for featuring this Lego table is to encourage children's fine motor development and so on, but the collateral benefit for me is that long before my baby son had any real interest in books, he associated this room with fascination, happy feelings and FUN FUN FUN. As a parent who's really deeply invested in passing on the old librophilia, I cannot tell you how grateful I am that he's made this positive association.

Beyond the Lego table, there are lots of other temptations in the kids' section:


Beads!


Blocks for little kids! (Please note the adorably optimistic sign on the shelf there. Librarians. I love them.)


Blocks for big kids! I love the use of space here; I guess those odd stairs really had to be there, so they went ahead and used 'em.


Two computers, loaded up with fun programs and games, specifically for the little guys' use!

And the books. Booooooooks!


I am reasonably sure that, after the Main Library, the West Branch has the largest children's section in town. It is awesome. They've got so much stuff. All of these books are in Spanish. This whole wall!

I am a total sucker for translations of books I love in English:


Huevos verdes con jamón!


Verano en vaqueros!


Despereaux es la historia de un ratón, de una princesa, algo de sopa y un ovillo de hilo!

(!!!!!)


And the board books are so nicely set up, in two display units that are easy for little hands to reach into. This bench is so cute. You could have like six toddlers hanging out and reading on it. Not that they'd sit still, of course, but they could. If they felt like it.


A whole aisle evenly divided between kids' audiobooks and genre fiction! This is a populist library and I love it.

Another element to love: Quilted banners everywhere you look.


I do not know who made these, but I suspect it was a community-based effort, like this lovely piece of folk art "made by Berkeley school children." Aw.


But, of course, the children's section that I'm so crazy about is only half the library. (Although, hello, half the library is for children. Yay.)


Here's the rest of the place.


For a relatively small place, it's got quite a lot of general-use computers—probably eight or ten. And they all get a lot of appreciative use.


Thoughtful details like this make me smile: This pretty, pretty window is too wide for a regular aisle, so instead of obscuring it, they put the big wide periodicals section here, showcasing both the magazines and the window.


I also had to smile at the Teen Room, placed as far as possible away from the little kids' area, but still graced with another of those sweet quilted banners.


Got a big kick out of this, too. When was the last time you saw a monster dictionary or atlas on a pedestal?! For me, at least, it's been a good long while.


Murals seem to have been a big topic around Berkeley this year. It was neat to see this theme being applied hyperlocally (Mi Tierra at San Pablo and Addison is a block from the West Branch) and extended to further reading on this endcap.

I have mentioned that my experience of this library is largely defined by the practical resources it offers: many books for children; many computers available to those who need them; a real emphasis on welcoming speakers of languages other than English. Certainly, it's possible to get your highfalutin literary vitamins here too: I have checked out James Joyce, Virginia Woolf and William Faulkner from these shelves.

But this is the section that makes me feel most grateful.


This is a whole bookcase in the adult nonfiction section dedicated to literacy.


This is an entire shelf just for English workbooks (with a little GED practice thrown in there).


And, on a personal and entirely selfish note, this is the door leading to the community room where Baby Bounce and Toddler Time storytelling sessions are held most Fridays, run by a librarian who would be saintly if she weren't so no-nonsense, and whom I have watched hold the attention of fifty babies and parents at the same time. That was a pretty rad introduction to group storytime for my son.

We are very lucky to have lived walking distance from this library for two years. We miss you, West Branch!