Lib 3 - Inforamtion Competency - Project 1: Library Visit

On Saturday, June 21, 2008, I visited the Orange County Public Library, Cypress Branch. The address is 5331 Orange Avenue, Cypress, CA 90630. The building is located in the Cypress Civic Center, next to the Cypress Police Department. The Cypress Library is one of several branch libraries associated with Santiego Library Systems

I live in Seal Beach and often frequent the Rossmore Library. I chose the Cypress Library for this assignment because it was larger than the Rossmore Library and thought there would be more to share with you for this assignment.

Upon entering the Cypress Library, I came to the “Check-Out” counter (about 30 feet from the front entrance). To the left of me was a very large room, quartered off with bookshelves and/or partitions. The room was divided into specific areas.

The first area I came to was the Young Adult Section. It seemed to be more of a study area. There were eight tables with a minimum of 4 chairs to each table. There was a partition, which held numerous brochures on various topics and served to separate the Young Adult Section from the area designated for Magazines/Periodicals/Newspapers.

The Magazines/Periodicals/Newspapers were in an area that was furnished with comfortable cushy chairs (no tables) for relaxed reading (and probably snoozing) and perusal of the material in that particular area. This area was squared off by an additional row of shorter bookcases, which met the partition, leaving what appeared to be an entrance to the Magazine/Periodical/Newspaper seating area. Each of the aforementioned areas probably measured out to be approximately 40x40 ft. each.

Directly in front of the short book cases 8-9 standard size (tall) wooden bookshelves that housed Books on Tape; Large Print Books; Adult Fiction (alpha by Author); their Music Section (containing books, sheet music and a dedicated Music Reference section). There were also paperbacks housed separately on turn-table type racks (for lack of a better description). Lastly in that room were Videos, DVDs, CDs. I then rounded the corner to find myself back at the lobby entrance.

I crossed to the other side, entering an equally large room as the left side of the library. The Information Desk was located there, along with Reference Books, and all the computers and a copier. Also in this area are books and a study area for elementary school age children (books, videos, cds, tables, chairs). All computers were located in this area as well.

Some of the online catalogs are: OCPL Catalog; EBSCO, which is a magazine/periodical/ literature system; California Library Catalog, and several others.

Three services available are: internet access, catalog research, various standard software programs.

Cypress Library is a public library that utilizes the Dewey Decimal classification system. I found it interesting that this particular library is a test branch for a new method of handling certain reference books. As I understand it, they are inter-filing reference books with non-fiction. These particular reference books have a 7-Day Only sticker placed on the spine of the book. After undergoing some studies, it was apparent that the reference sections of many libraries are seldom used. They thought by interfiling these reference books with non-fiction they would be more accessible to the patrons. The downside of this is that some of these books are valuable and could possibly be lost/not returned. They are only in the 2nd month of this test study. I should have asked how long the test period would be. They still have certain reference books that are not allowed to be checked out. They are kept directly behind the Information Desk.

What I like most about the Cypress Library is that the personnel (from the clerk at the front desk to the Senior Administrative Librarian) were all helpful, personable, polite, and knowledgeable about every aspect of their library. They clearly enjoy their jobs and are very willing to help the patrons if needed.

I spoke briefly with one of the librarians there, Ms. Malinda Todora, and told her about the online class I was taking and that my goal was to obtain certification as a Library Technician. She said she began a similar program years ago through Fullerton, but the program was dropped (not enough people responded). She asked if I was doing this through Santa Ana College, who is known for offering this certification. I proudly said, no, Long Beach Community College is offering this new program in the Fall of 2008 and that the online class I was now taking is one of the required classes of the that program. She said she would be happy to post the hand-out at the various libraries they are affiliated with. So, I followed-up this evening with an email containing the hand-out with the information (obtained from Kim Barcley of Long Beach Community College). I sure hope this helps to inform interested people that this program is being offered. I guess we shall see.

Well, there should be just about 500 words here. But in case a few more words are needed, I found the grounds outside of the building nicely kept. I enjoyed this project as well.