Duarte Library, Duarte, California

There could be anything in there. Anything at all.

To give perspective on this entry and the ones on each side of it, it should be explained that I went to three libraries in one day, starting at the soul-sucking San Bernardino, then on to Duarte, and ending in Eagle Rock. It was a very long day.

Claimed.

Having fled San Bernardino and feeling not at all confident about myself or my surroundings, I decided to go to the next closest place on my list and see how it panned out. I still had places on the list that were well into Los Angeles (Hollywood, Inwood) but the drives were over an hour and I just wasn't in the mood for it. I wanted to sit down somewhere quiet and just write for awhile.

What little I saw of the town of Duarte was fine--I'd noticed the Old Spaghetti Factory right next to the highway as I'd passed back and forth multiple times over the past couple of days, and since the library is right down the street, I at least felt like I had my bearings. The Duarte Library itself is a plain, squat building, very basic, and small. The exterior is a riotous, semi-managed celebration of every bush, plant, and tree you could fathom, all overrun by spiders. I took a picture of one shrub, but the whole front of the place was covered in spiderwebs. Hence the "semi."

I found a single-occupant desk to settle into, complete with electricity and space for all of my stuff, and proceeded to sign on to the library's wifi. Not so simple! The County of Los Angeles requires that you have a library card in order to use the wifi. This was a first on my travels, and I was initially annoyed having no idea how much of a pain this was going to be. Every library system is different. In some, you have to be a resident of the county to even qualify for a library card. Not the case in LA, thank goodness, and I was issued a temporary library card valid for 30 days, even with my hilarious temporary Kansas drivers licence. It's basically a paper receipt. I've gotten looks.

Duarte was also the first library I've visited where patrons had to be buzzed in to the bathrooms. Few of the library bathrooms I've visited on this trip have been much better than gas station bathrooms (some a little better, some much worse) so I understand this rule...though I couldn't tell that it made any difference whatsoever to the overall condition of the bathroom. It wasn't the worst, but...

While I am thinking of it (because Duarte failed in this regard as so many places do, and unforgivably so)--People of Earth! People Who Own Businesses! Especially Where Patrons are Allowed to Use the Bathroom! HEAR ME: Hooks. HOOKS. We need hooks to hang our stuff. HOOKS. It costs you barely anything and it makes all the difference in the world. NO, we do not want to put our bags on your pee stained floor. HOOKS. For the love of all that is holy.

Duarte was old and run down, but basically well maintained with a steady stream of locals coming and going. Although my neighbor to the left made some noise (he was watching a movie on his phone, with headphones, and marking down something in a notepad. He would start to get worked up and kind of hoot, squeal, and seem to cry--sometimes beating his leg--then after awhile he would stop, rip the page out of the notebook, tear it in half, take it over to the trash, and throw it away. Repeat.) the noisiest people by far was the staff. There was a huge, yelling To Do about a bug in the bathroom, with people going to see and coming out again, all just yelling and yelling. Turns out, it was a fly. In the toilet. A dead fly. Thoughts and prayers, Duarte Library staff.

Hunger drove me toward destiny, the Old Spaghetti Factory. Sicilian meatballs, lunch prices, and ridiculously over the top decor? Sign me UP. I would have loved the hell out of this place as a kid. Even adult me had to admit it was pretty fly (eep). Look at it. And the food wasn't too bad, either.

Redrum.