Tommy Douglas Library

While this library is smaller, its new and organized with easy parking. The staff here are so friendly I was surprised! This is my local one, occasionally I have to go to metrotown to get books as this one is smaller and has less selection. Free wifi, ample tables and chairs and nice and quiet.

I absolutely love this library. It is open, bright, easily accessible, and has a wide selection of many books. I think library vibes are so important, and this one has a great one. I am sad that it is no longer my closest branch.

Brand new library (well, maybe not so brand spankin’ new anymore but very new nonetheless) that’s very much needed in this hood after the old premises have been repurposed as the temporary community centre.
New is always welcome because anything would be better than the dark and dingy old digs before the move. The new location is bright, extremely airey, with a ton of open space and ultra-​high ceilings so high to the point of being a waste of space. That’s really too bad because the building could easily be divided into two full floors which means the ability to house a much larger collection than what’s being offered presently. Given the rash of re-​development of the Edmonds Town Centre, the City of Burnaby was rather shortsighted in its planning for the new branch, because the ever– growing population in this neighbourhood would very quickly grow out of its relatively small holdings.
On a positive note, staff are very friendly and helpful, there is plenty of comfy seating to enjoy some quiet reading time, and free underground parking is available. The only worry is how much longer I can enjoy this place before the community outgrows this joint…

The place for eggheads like me
The new library is bright, comfortable and has excellent staff. You can find a quiet corner to curl up with a book, check your email, or research to your hearts content. Nicely designed, and a huge improvement over their old location. Very nice!

Bright, clean, beautiful, wonderful, fantastic library. They have all the bells and whistles when it comes to the seating, library computer lab and much much more.
They really knew what they were doing when it came to building this library. Yes it is small but it is also beautiful. Makes the old library look sick.
Staff super polite, super awesome and extremely helpful.
Yup, this is my library:)

This is the brand new library in Burnaby and it looks pretty damn good from the outside. I believe the architect was inspired by Aberdeen Centre in Richmond. Anyway, who really even cares about what a library looks like from the outside?
Let’s look at the interior. It’s no larger than a large high school gym or some elementary school gyms. The ceiling is very high and it’s suppose to give the library an airy feel which the old library lacked. There is pretty much one large area and a smaller corridor for children’s book. There is a small study area and some computers near the entrance for Internet use. The adult book section is very very small and it’s about the twice the size of the children’s book section of the library. So, it’s quite disappointing for a brand new library to have so little books. Shockingly, the library has only one floor.
I have to say this library is an embarrassment because they closed down the old library across street which had two floors and it had way more books than the new library. They should have torn down the old library and rebuilt it in the same area with two floors. The Tommy Douglas library is pretty much nothing to get excited about and you’ll most likely leave the place without finding a single book you’ll get excited about.
In short, this is the biggest embarassment to the city of Burnaby and it’s a complete waste of tax payers money! This library is so pathetic that the new Tommy Douglas library information site talks mostly about the chairs and tables and not the books.

On a brighter note, the staff at this library are very polite and friendly, and much more helpful and friendly than staff at Vancouver Public libraries!
Also, I don’t understand why there is underground parking at this library as who would even drive here just for the books? They should have put two floors and left out the underground parking!!! AHHH!