County of Los Angeles Public Library – A C Bilbrew Library

Love this library. Held workshops here. The staff is knowledgeable and will assist you in finding the book you’re looking for. They hold events during Black History Month which are free to the public. Certainly a place to meet local authors and special guests. Parking is free and the events are worth going to.

If you have read any of my other reviews, you will notice I tend to have problems with Los Angeles. Not my favorite city in the US that I have lived in or visited. In fact, it is at the bottom of my list. Turns out, this is where I currently live :0(
That said, there are only a few reasons I didn’t give this library five stars. One, the location. It could be in better repair and the ambiance could be cozier. I must mention the librarian did tell me that the county has plans to revamp the insides.
Still, if the county has no plans on fixing the area the library is located in, then I would suggest going to this library during daylight hours and pay a bit more attention to your surroundings. When does the country focus on safety and appearance of black and brown areas of any town USA?
But for the friendliness of the staff and the focus on black and brown needs (books entertainment and other services), I might just pass this library up. Instead, those are things that are hard to find in Los Angeles no matter where you go or what neighborhood you find yourself in.
Pluses:
1. Easy to get to.
2. Nice staff.
3. Not a «white» library. This is not a «white» nation so our resources should represent all of us for all of us.
Minuses:
1. Not enough parking.
2. No security guard. I know security guards are not the norm here in the US, but it should be given the people in our world today that feel a need to cause problems for the rest of us.

This is my favorite library in the LA COUNTY as it’s the only library within 80 library in LA COUNTY with a BLACK RESOURCE CENTER (BRC)!
–There is plenty of parking!

This place is just a-​ok. I went here because its a black resource center and I could only find certain books here. I like the décor, there’s a lot of history on the walls. There hours are pretty long for a library so I can come here after work.
What gets me is the poor customer service. I always check out books for my family and never had an issue. Here the clerk rudely asks who’s the card holder and I told her these were books for my mom. She told me I could put them on hold but she would have to come in herself. I asked if she could call my mom to save another trip. No way.
I send her in the next day and she checks out the books with a different lady, no questions asked. I should have dealt with her so I wouldn’t have had to make a second trip.
The librarian was helpful but still just a-​ok. He looked up my books and then halfway walked me to them, where I had to search myself. At other libraries the librarian walks you exactly to the book and hands it to you.
I can’t speak on how out of date books the books are here but I was able to find exactly what I needed. The place itself was organized, I didn’t see any books out of place.
I would come back, but be warned of the spotty customer service.

Books are out of place, selection of books are pretty old and nothing I would want to read. Every now and then you’ll find a needle in a haystack but for the most part, I would pass on this library.
The people who work there are pretty nice but its clear that they wish they were doing something else with their time other than working at a library.
The library is also close to a middle school so just as a caution to people reading this: DO NOT GO HERE AFTER 3:00 PM. The kids go to Bilbrew after they get out of school and stay till their parents pick them up. If your not a fan of 15 – 20 preteens «hanging out» and keeping up noise while your looking for a good book to read, then do yourself a big favor and not go to Bilbrew.