Library MappingBy: Kaitlin Kanabay

Merced County Library2100 ‘O’ Street Merced

209-385-7484

~Hours~MWF – 9:30am-5pm TTH 11:30am-7pm

Sat 11:30am-5pm Sunday Closed

• When looking at ways to get to the library from my house I found that it is quite difficult and the only thing that makes sense is driving my own car or calling a taxi. I live out in the country so there are no buses containing a route that I could use. (Point A is my home, Point B is the library).

• When driving it takes about 18 minutes to drive from my house to the Merced Library.

• I did not try walking but when looking this up on mapquest it would take about 3 ½ to 4 hours to get to the library.

• I find this unfortunate because even though I do not live in town, many people from the farming community live in the same vicinity as me with their children having no access to transportation to the Merced County Library, unless they are able to get a ride from a parent, friends or other family. No public transportation is available.

• This is the bus route for Merced City’s Bus. As you can see there is an icon on the legend for the library; however there is no icon shown on the map for the library. The library is located next to the Merced County Courts on ‘O’ and 21st Street. Since this is not shown on the map, people would have no idea what route to take to even get close to the library if they needed to use public transportation in town to get there.

• This route stops at a stop about every 8 minutes. There is a bus that stops at each stop every half hour.

• To eliminate language barriers each stop is labeled with a number. Stop one would be the best to take in order to get to the library.

• Unless you live on one of the roads on the bus route, you would have to walk to a bus stop. Since this bus route does not cover many residential streets, this is quite a walk for most. Quiet honestly I would not allow my child to walk to these stops nor would I allow them to take the bus. After observation I found that most people who take the bus are actually uncomfortable and feel unsafe . However, the bus is free of charge.

After I drove myself to the library, I was very surprised to find the parking lot completely full. There was really no one outside the building and as I spent some time outside observing, I noticed that people were coming and going frequently; however more then the majority of people were being driven or driving themselves rather then walking or public transportation.

When first walking up to the library it can be kind of confusing where the entrance is because there are a couple of walkways and lots of trees surrounding the building. Once you walk up the ramp (as it is handicap accessible), you immediately see the library return box. This way you do not have to walk inside to return books. When walking up to the doors in faded letters it says “Merced County Library” followed by the hours of operation and a “No Loitering” sign.

I can honestly say that I have never been to this library and was really amazed by it. It was spacious, quiet, clean, there were not many posters on the walls but people were kind and helpful. I was mostly amazed at the kids section. When you first walk into the library in the very center there is an information desk. This desk has a person available to assist you with any questions and point you in the right direction. However, this person speaks English only. To the right there is an additional assistance desk that offers assistance in Spanish. This desk also processes library cards and is the book check out area. There are tables that seat four with computers available along with additional chairs and tables through out solely for reading. There are three stories to this building, with the variety of languages other then English being on this main floor. There is also a children’s room on this floor. On the far left wall is a shelf of pamphlets for services available in Merced County to include welfare, bus routes, WIC and services and functions provided by the library.

(This is a side view, I’m standing in the Children’s room when I took this which is to the left of the entrance).

Spanish SectionThis is the Spanish section. I had to ask where it was located and they instructed me towards the shelf that says espanol (very easy to find once it was pointed out). The shelf that has “espanol” on it contains all Spanish books. There is also a shelf on the back wall that has encyclopedias, dictionaries and some additional literature in Spanish. This portion of Spanish is just in the “adult”section. However, in the Children’s room there are a variety of books available in Spanish. The other thing shocking to me was Spanish is not the only other language; this library has a variety of languages available. Although the amount of texts in each language is limited, I was shocked at the variety of languages they had.

Other Available Languages

Hmong - Mien

Korean

Vietnamese

Chinese

More Languages

Portuguese

French German

Italian

• This was the Japanese Section. Like I said, I was amazed at the variety of languages the library had available. Although there was not a large variety in all languages, it was still very shocking to me that our library had these available. Having access to these varieties of languages was an exceptional contribution in this library.

Japanese

Last of Additional Languages

Children’s CornerThe Children’s Corner was really neat! It is a section in the library that is walled off by windows. When you walk in there are shelves of children’s books, no posters but a painting of planets by the computer area. There are sections on the book shelves with Spanish books for a variety of ages. There is also a theater section in the back that is a closed room and is used for story time for kids every Saturday. It’s a really neat room. There are little tables for kids to sit at including a caterpillar to sit in. I took my 4 year old with me and he though it was amazing! Very comfortable for kids to feel able to explore.

Spanish Books for KidsThese are books available to kids in Spanish. They are indicated by having little signs in Spanish such as “Libros en espanol” and “En espanol” along with different books in Spanish surrounding them. There are picture books, word books, story books, and chapter books available creating books for a variety of ages. There were actually more books then I expected and they are very easy to find. There is even a bilingual monitor in this room always available to help. Kids even have there own bathroom in this room.

• Other Available Activities– Arts and Crafts Days– Reading theater every

Saturday for kids in the theater

– Read with a Tail-Wagging Tutor (allowing kids to read stories to dogs that are trained to sit and listen to the kids)

– Toddler and Preschool Story time

– Infant Story group (6-18 months)

– Music and story to “Celebrate Los Ninos”

• My overall experience was this: – If you do not know where the library is and do not have your

own transportation to get there this can be difficult, especially since no library is shown on any transportation maps

– Once at the library assistance is immediately available. If I were a young child, upon entering I would immediately be attracted to the kids section. What is appealing about the kids section is not only that it is very kid friendly, but once inside, if you are a Spanish speaker, it is very obvious and easy to find children’s books in Spanish.

– For adults who are Spanish speaking it may be a little more difficult, however assistance is available upon entering.

– The variety of languages available in this library are a great benefit to this library and what it has to offer. Having all the languages in a designated area is also beneficial.

– The library had a very helpful, positive and friendly environment. I really enjoyed my trip to the library. I also took my four year old who requested a library card prior to us walking out!

My Overall Experience