Whenever I move into a new city or am visiting a new location the first thing that I search for is a library. I have lived in Los Angeles my whole life besides the 3 years I spent in San Francisco and the 1 year that I spent in Fullerton.

Now you might think that the search for a library means looking for the library that is closest in location to your home, school, or work site. Convenience is always something that is beneficial and something that I consider when searching for a library yet I also look for much more than proximity. I’m going to tell you some of the things that I look for when finding a library and hope this helps you if you’re every looking for one.

When I first moved to San Francisco I was amazed by the architecture of the libraries and made an attempt to visit one library a week. During my time in that city the library was a place for me to distract myself from my homesickness and to feel less alone. You see the library was the best place to go because it was easy to get to and I could pick up a book and escape to a new world. The only thing that I was looking for in a library during my time there was a new place every week. I just needed a library that had a good selection of books and movies.

I was shocked when I moved to Fullerton and found that there was 1 library in the whole city and it was about 30 minutes away from where I lived and not at all walking distance from me. When I found this place, I was looking for a place that I could rent books at and that was easy to get to. I was sadly disappointed with this library since I didn’t really have other choices.

Living in Los Angeles has been the best in terms of finding a library because the Los Angeles Public Library has a large selection of libraries to choose from. I still have yet to visit all of them but there is something I am looking for when it comes to finding the perfect library.

Originally I wanted a library that wasn’t close to my house and chose the Central Library because they had the largest collection of books. During the time that I chose that library because I was into reading non-fiction about viruses and diseases and the Central Library was the place to go in order to get any non-fiction books. As my interests changed and the genre of books that I enjoyed shifted I knew that I needed to find a new library that wouldn’t overwhelm me with their selection of books.

The Cahuenga library is my choice of libraries now and it isn’t just due to the proximity of this library to my house. Some of the things that I looked for when choosing my library was the selection of young adult books that the library had and how accessible that area was to anyone. Some libraries have that area off limits to teenagers which I respect but I wanted a place where I wouldn’t feel judged for my reading selection.

Something else that I looked at were the activities that were offered at each library and the times that they were offered. For example some of the things my library offers is Yoga for Everyone on Saturday mornings and Loteria!Bingo on Mondays during the summer time.

I encourage you all to make a list of some of the things that you need your library to have and then explore some of the libraries in your area. What are some things that you need from your library?