Carmel Mountain Ranch Library

Watch out for the caucasian librarian with glasses! She is racist. She drives a white mustang too. Few months ago there was a black teenager who was taking a nap in the couch, she tried to wake up the teenager but he was sound asleep. Immediately she called the police and they kicked the african teenager out of the library. Yesterday there was a caucasian man taking a nap by the couch area. She tried waking up the man but the man was sound asleep. Guess what happen next? She left the man alone and did not call the police.

Great place to work from if you need a break from working from home. The internet is slow but that helps me concentrate on work stuff, can’t stream Netflix. There are tables or solo booths.

Super nice spot with lots of natural lighting coming in. If this were the library I went to as a kid, I’d be spoiled as heck.
One thing — I don’t get why no food or drinks are allowed. Not even water. What’s up with that? Did something bad happen in the past? Do y’all just get a crap ton of ants? Some sort of explanation on that signage would be awesome.

great library right in CMR. I’m glad this is so close to our house! Fast easy checkout and everyone is very helpful. They even have story time with therapy dogs.
Keeping track of any library hours can be challenging, but having a few late nights open a week is good enough for me! Placing items on hold via their website and Overdrive app is a breeze with a very easy pick up process. Very clean and modern :-)

I have been coming here for the last 4 years and my family and I have always loved it until now. It’s clean, great location and have nice children’s books but the staff need to be better trained on their customer service skills. My account has always been in great standing and made an honest mistake of my due date of our books. My kids go through books like crazy so we had checked out 34 books and had a late fee of $ 52.20! I spoke with Janet, the person in charge at that branch and explained I have been in great standing for the last 4 years, can anything be done to help since I can’t afford that. She told me no. I asked if there’s such a huge fine, why wasn’t I notified earlier? She said AFTER 30 days, they send a letter by mail. If I had an email listed with them, they send an email after 14 days. This policy needs to be looked into since it seems to be outdated. I asked to speak to the next person who oversees this branch so she gave me his number and said, «I’m going to tell you what he is going to tell you right now and his answer will also be no». I told her how can you answer for him? She said, it’s our policy and that’s what he will say. There were other witnesses there to hear that. She had said that multiple times to me while I was asking questions. As an employee, I would NEVER speak on behalf of my boss. A 16 year old at their first job even knows better than that. She was rude, had a snarky look at her face and enjoyed telling someone no. She could have been nicer to me in this situation since I had my kids with me and since my account was now blocked, they could not check out books. I called Robert who oversees this branch but is located at the central library. He was much nicer and understanding. He took $ 5 off my account which was huge for me! I informed Robert of Janet’s lack of customer service skills and how she was happy to answer on his behalf so hopefully things will improve. I will not be returning to this branch and after speaking with several other families in this community, I was informed Poway is the better library to go to.

It’s bright, clean and spacious with ample free parking. This is a place where I plan to bring mini me frequently. They have books of coupons out in the front lobby. We were able to get a freebie kids meal at Chick-​fil-​A down the street after our nice trip to the CMR library.
They have a larger children’s area compared to the other libraries we have been to. They also have toys and puzzle for the kids. It’s a great place to meet new friends and neighbors. The librarians were very helpful in finding books for us.

I had tried to renew books online but there was a hold on my account so I could not do it. Because I was on a trip to Northern CA at the time and could not physically renew my books or do it online, I called the library to ask them what my options were. They told me to make sure I return them in person (not the book drop) as soon as I come back to San Diego and explain my situation. I was afraid my fines would continue to go up each day that I was away. However, the person that I spoke to on the phone said that she was not able to renew the books over the phone for me and that I would just need to come in in person and everything would be taken care of. WRONG! I was misinformed! When I tried to explain what I had been told to the older male librarian at this branch, his sarcastic response to me was, «too bad, no mercy.» I understand the policy but why had I been misinformed and why was I not allowed to renew over the phone from Northern CA sooner to prevent a $ 56 fine?!! I am all about supporting public libraries, but their policies are ridiculous! And their staff needs to be better trained!

This is where the cool kids come. Nice quite place to study. Good lighting. Peaceful. But not exactly the place I would go for research.

Love this library. It’s clean, the staff is pretty helpful and they have a good selection of books and movies. It’s not loud like some libraries can be (which is so annoying). It’s convenient to get it and out of.

I prefer the Poway library because #1 it’s usually open, compared to the two days in the week you’ll find this one with decent hours 12−8pm because of it’s odd schedule. It’s designed rather well, small, the glass walls make the place feel comfortable.
I’m usually here with just my laptop. Their WiFi internet is beyond slow for a library that gets half as many people as the Poway and RB branches. Might be because all the residents surrounding it are using it as well, which is unacceptable, at least have it secured.
Overall I prefer the Poway branch since it has more hours, better WiFi.

I’ve been going to this library since I was a kid and the thing that’s always stood out the most in my mind are the huuuuge glass walls that make up the entrance of the library. Or, at least, they were «huuuge» in my 6-​year-​old mind. Anyways, the reason I give this particular library a 3 is because of my own expectations when going into a library.
I expect 3 things: organization, friendliness, and selection. As far as friendliness goes, these librarians remind me of your stereotypical cookies-​out-​of-​the-​oven-​oh-​and-​would-​you-​also-​like-​a-​glass-​of-​milk-​with-​that-​darling? grandmotherly types. They’re helpful, quick to suggest alternative books to check out, and of course, very very courteous. The organization of the library isn’t too bad either, especially considering that most libraries run on volunteer efforts. However, I’ve never really understood why the Children’s Fiction, YA Fiction, and (normal?) Fiction sections are so far apart. Or why furniture seems to keep wandering around everytime I visit. Sigh. So as far as organization goes, meh, it’s about average. The factor that drives down this library (sorry!), however, is the selection. As an avid reader, I pretty much blaze through stacks of books. So, yes, I AM that annoying Asian girl with the 20-​book stack in the checkout line. Sorry… But that being said, the selection at this library (I absolutely adore fiction books) is a bit lacking /​: Of course, that’s not the library’s fault– its just a bit unfortunate that all the newest releases tend to go to the Central Library first.
Bottom line: great library, friendly people, selection is all right, but not big enough for intense bookworms. If you eat through books like a termite, the SD County Branch might better suit your needs. Poway Library?

This is one of my favorite San Diego area libraries.
To start, the building itself is quite awesome. Some guy even wrote a journal article about it’s architecture and innovation.

It is a good sized library with a wide selection of books and helpful librarians. The kids section rocks… TONS of choices and series available.
I always find something I want to read when I’m there, or else I order it and pick it up. I stop in between jobs to read, use free wifi, sit out in the outdoor garden area, or browse books.
I wish they had later hours, but with a crappy economy I’m just glad they are around!

As far as libraries go this is a good one. Despite not being an enormous library it has a huge stock of books and you can also order books to come from another branch if the title you are wishing to loan is not available.
The place is not busy during the daytime. I have yet to visit at the weekend or in the evening.
It is clean and there is plenty of space to walk around between the books.
As well as books there is a large selection of dvds and books on cd. The cd selection is limited.
Lending policy is 21 days for books, audio tapes and compact discs. 7 days for dvds and videos.
Any items ordered will be kept for 12 days. A maximum of 25 hold items can be put on your card any one time.
A maximum of 40 items can be loaned at one time. There are limits as follows:
–5 books from the same author
–5 books on the same subject
— 5 videos & 5 DVDS
–15 audio cassette titles
–10 compact disc titles
10 juvenile book and tape sets
2 holiday books per family.
4 stars rather than 5 as my visit before last landed me with a cold. You cannot guarantee that the other people visiting will be illness free (or have enough manners to cover their mouths when coughing. I know this is not the fault of the library.
Also a 4 rather than a 5 because it is not the biggest of libraries and I was unable to locate books on local history.