Montclair Branch Library

That we still have local libraries at a time when everything is going digital is just. charming. This one in particular is especially so.
I came here for one of their weekly «Toddler Storytime» sessions, which happen every Thursday morning and is usually followed by «Baby Bounce,» where parents play, sing, rhyme together while bouncing their itty bitty babies. So every Thursday, this quaint little building that once was a house fills up pretty quickly and turns into a very loud (and even more adorable!) space.
Those of you looking for peace and quiet might want to visit the library on another day. ;-)
This library features 4 computers with free internet access for visitors as well as (according to their website) 45,000 books, paperbacks, CDs, audio books, magazines, newspapers, videos and audiocassettes for children, teens and adults.

My library just got even better! Why? Because they now have a library cat! It’s a sweet black and white kitty that lives nearby and hangs out in the library when it’s open.
All libraries should have a cat IMO.

This library is sooooo cute, as stated before looks are deceiving for this quant little or should I say quite large library! I enjoy going to Baby Bounce, I am so glad this service is offered in most all of Oakland’s public libraries :) Also, the selection of babies/children’s books is very extensive! Enjoy

I wish I could give this library 6 stars. It’s housed in a super cute little house and has a GREAT children’s section and a fairly decent DVD selection. The new children’s librarian is AWESOME! After I submitted feedback that I would like there to be some book lists for strong female characters and LGBT family books she updated the existing LGBT book list, taking care to determine if the books were actually in the Library, and she created a strong female list. Love her! Thank you! In addition she’s acquired a bunch of new books for the library including a gorgeous copy of «Country Mouse City Mouse.» I would give this library 50 Stars if I could!

Sure it’s not perfect but it’s cute, close and always seems to carry whatever my book club has selected. Many thanks to the friendly staff for taking great care of this neighborhood gem!

Well I’m always going to be a fan of a place that lets you rent books, dvd’s, and games for free so I guess all public libraries get love for that. This library is a hidden gem in my neighborhood, first off its located in a convenient location that I can get to from Montclair Village when I’m walking my daughter in her stroller or during the day you can find parking on the street between the hours of 9a-​2p after school starts and before it ends at neighboring Montclair Elementary School. Driving by you may miss it because it is tucked away on a quaint street and you almost have to know that it’s there in order to know that it’s a library. Inside the library is very small but they pack a lot of books in there. I go in for the toddler books and read and play games with my daughter. I think it’s a great place to kill an hour with a little one. I’m not sure what the official number of books you can check out is but I think it’s around 30 book which really helps when you are trying to keep your child interested in reading and don’t want to spend $ 10-​$ 20 a pop for kids’ books with 8 pages and 24 total words. If you’re in the area stop by and check it out.

I love my local library. I took my kids here for story time on Wednesdays before they started school. The staff is very friendly and helpful. And I run into friends here all the time. A gem of a place!

This is a pretty small library that is frequented by children and their parents. Generally not a quiet place because most of the times I’ve been there, there are kids around. Because the building is small, noise from the children’s area carries throughout much of the library.
If you don’t require quiet, though, it’s not a bad place to camp out for a while. There are some tables, a couple of cushioned armchairs, and 3 computers with Internet — you just need a library card to log on. The free wifi isn’t very fast, but hey it’s free.
The bathroom is clean, but you need a key from the front desk to use it. Public bathroom keys give me the heebie-​jeebies because you have no idea what kind of germs & grossness are on them.
There’s no parking lot — just street parking, which can be pretty difficult to find.

I’m really glad we have a branch in Montclair.
It is located in a super cute little building. The inside feels dank and cramped to me, though, so it isn’t somewhere that I want to spend time. It’s like having a very good friend who is a hoarder. You love them, but you hate to spend time in their house. So I’ve tried to get things worked out online before stopping by, making sure the book I need is there, so I can just step in and be out of there with it. I really am grateful to have a branch in Montclair when I can actually get that to happen.
The hours are so erratic and so few, though, including that they are closed all day every Monday, it’s hard to make regular use of the library. I’d have to keep their odd schedule tucked in or posted among all the other things there are to keep track of in life. It just doesn’t end up working out very well, and I end up having to buy books I would have rather borrowed from the library. Which is par for the course in this increasingly consumeristic, throw-​away society. I think the key to keeping things rolling in that direction is continuing to starve our public services.
We have got to figure out a better way to fund our public services.

Cutest library ever! I saw from the website that it had some sort of story book themed architecture (at least from the front) and figured it would be as small as the Lakeside branch. It might be just tad bigger, but it’s certainly not as tiny as it appears from the outside.
There are computers and a study area in back, past the walled and sectioned-​off Children’s area. Everything is very well-​organized and (thanks to the delightful staff) I was able to find what I needed in just what I needed in a matter of minutes.

When I first moved to the area, I was glad to know there was a library somewhere nearby, but finding it proved to be more difficult that I’d imagined. I was not expecting a house-​sized cottage. In truth, the Montclair branch is adorable on the outside, and the staff is friendly and helpful. But the inside is very cramped. There is also only on-​street parking, and since the library is right near a local school, finding parking nearby can be frustrating.
The lending rules of this library make it pretty nice, though not as nice as some I’ve been to in other counties (Oakland won’t allow you to reserve movies). The lack of space also means this library isn’t really an ideal space for doing projects you need peace and quiet for. There are only a few internet-​ready computer terminals and they’re almost always in use. Your best bet to use internet here is to bring your own laptop and sit outside on the steps. The garden outside the library is very pretty.
And if you happen to live in the neighborhood and you have friends over, you can show them your library and they will all exclaim over how cute your library is!

a very cute branch in an adorable old house with some of the best storytimes in town from one of my favorite fellow children’s librarians. if you have a baby that needs bounced, the montclair branch is your place!