Westwood Public Library

I love libraries: quiet reading rooms and shelves and shelves of beautiful books, all properly categorized and alphabetized, free WiFi, free movies, what's not to love? Wherever we move to, we always somehow end up living within a 10-minute walk to the local library; the Toronto Public Library, for example, was hands-down the best public library I've ever seen (with 98 branches it's apparently also the busiest urban library system in the world).

One of the other MBA wives (at Anderson they call us "Sig-O's" which is short for significant others) had the great idea to start a book club in our little circle. This will be my first time joining a book club so I'm rather looking forward to it (gosh this blog makes me sound terribly geeky). I'm hoping it will be a nice mix between the read-serious-stuff-and-have-philosophical-discussions kind of book club and the read-fluffy-novels-and-drink-wine-and-complain-about-your-husbands kind. :o)

So on Friday I finally stopped in at the Westwood Public Library, one of 72 branches of the Los Angeles Public Library system (also up there in the list of largest public library systems in the world). The library's address is 1246 Glendon Avenue, just south of Wilshire Blvd. and a block east of Westwood Blvd. 

Library cards are free to residents of California and valid for 3 years. For proof of residency, you'll either need a photo ID with your current address, or a photo ID plus a personal check or utilities bill or credit card statement or something of that nature with your current address. You fill out an application form and get your card right away and can start checking out materials same day.

Here are some highlights:

• you can borrow most items for 3 weeks and renew twice (35 cents/day fine if late); CD's & Documentary DVD's are loaned out for a week and entertainment DVD's for 2 days ($1/day fine);
• you can return to any of the library's 72 branches;
• you can place a hold online for an item that is in the library catalogue and they will transfer the item to your branch and email you when it's ready for pick up (this was my favourite feature of the Toronto library, so glad they have the same system here!);
• they have a huge collection of eMedia (eBooks, audio books, music, videos, etc.) so you can download things onto your computer/iPad/Kindle/whatever without even leaving your house;
• they also organize events like workshops, author talks, Spanish/French conversation groups, and a quarterly book sale (the next one is Saturday, December 1st, 10:30am-3:30pm);
• when you borrow 5 books from the library, you can ask for a free ticket to the Hammer Museum which is just up the street; and
• with your library card you get $2 admission (instead of $2.50) into public swimming pools all over the city including the half-Olympic size Westwood Pool.

The Westwood Library's hours are Mon/Wed 10am-8pm, Tue/Thu 12:30-8pm, Fri/Sat 10am-5:30pm (closed Sundays), and I hope you'll go check it out and maybe pick up a book or a movie or two! :o)

[2012/11/26 Update]

Here's a little tip: Items are supposed to be due back in the drop box by midnight on the due date, but they're actually not scanned in until the library opens the next business day. This means if you borrow a few movies Thursday night, the due date on your slip will be Saturday, but since they're closed on Sunday, you technically don't have to return them until half an hour or so before they open on Monday morning (as they clear out the drop box before they open).