Heritage Park Regional Library

Love this park for its artificial pond… there are so many migrate birds at this pond… in the pond there are turtles… used to be carps.
There are also three world class swimming pools, tennis court, racketball court, and baskerball court.
There are also library, community center, and arts center.
Wow! this place has everything!

The things that make me go. Hmmm?
–Don’t bother putting something on hold online. I tried doing so and drove to the library thinking I would be in and out. Not the case. The woman who helped calmly informed me that it is best to reserve something by calling the library directly. She proceeded to go find said item and took 20 mins to look for it. If I had the time and energy, I would have found the thing myself… But my patience was low and I was in my final month of pregnancy. Patience is not a virtue when you’re a balloon like crazy woman trying to get errands done within a few hours!
–No car return slot? I decided to return a DVD on a rainy weekday afternoon thinking there would be an easy way to drive in and out without walking in the rain. Boy was I wrong.
–Terrible parking situation. If you’re coming after the kids get out of school, good luck. It is a mad house of cars and children. Don’t get me wrong… The lot is huge; however, maneuvering your way to the actual front door of the library can prove to be a tad tricky.
–The surroundings of the library are quite serene! There is a pond with duckies and a sand box where little kids can play. Maybe the one redeeming quality of this place.

A tad noisy, but a great place to hang out and sit near the fireplace on a cold afternoon, with their WiFi and my computer.

This is a small branch and we visited the kid section more than anything. I often would peruse Pinterest or something to make a list of books to look for which were usually seasonal. Most of those books are always checked out, but the volume of books for the kids to select from is great! My kids are 5 and 3 and we could spend hours in there if our schedule allowed it. The kid section is of course a little more noisy. I would breeze in and out of the adult section with kids in tow, but I frequently found a book that looked good. Not my favorite library in the world, but we really like it. Parking can be a bit tricky on weekends due to sports.

I am seeing all these negative reviews and I feel the need to state that this is a public library, people. It’s a small public library that honestly doesn’t get enough funding, but still, it’s a small public library. Get it? Small. Public. Library. Don’t expect there to be Hilton conference rooms. Security is there for disruptive kids who bang things with their skateboards, start fights, and watch porn on the computers, not to police people around who talk louder than a whisper. The computers and books are public property in an underfunded library, so freshness and quality aren’t exactly going to be like the Apple store. Much of the work is handled by volunteer staff who don’t have a bunch of cash to buy new books to replace the old ones. If you honestly want to see a change in library amenities to make them more fancy, talk to the Irvine city government so this place can get a raise in funding. As of right now, the city of Irvine wastes a ton of money on buying cops the newest sexiest car or BMW motorcycle and on drilling holes in the street for no reason. Get them to put more wasted money into the library and things will surely be upgraded. As for now, it is still the same small public library that barely has the money to keep itself open for the community and provides free-​of-​charge computer use, a wide array of multicultural literature, one of the friendliest and most helpful staff teams that I have ever encountered, numerous free-​of-​charge community programs year-​round, and reasonable cleanliness. Don’t take it for granted just because it’s apparently not fancy enough. Appreciate it for what it is. And for what it is, a small, underfunded public library, it does it on a 5 star level. I feel the need to emphasize small public library because it seems like some people aren’t getting it.

The reviews weren’t kidding about the noise level, but then again, I’m in and out of libraries once I find my books and DVDs. I came about 15 mins to closing and it was still happening! The library was pretty well laid out so I was able to find what I needed right away. The library did announce when it was about to close and for people to wrap up, but I didn’t see anyone making moves to close up shop. There was no line for me when i was checking out too. Parking is a breeze.

Friendly and helpful staff. Can get a bit rowdy with all the kids «studying», but oh well, kids…
Great selection of books for the whole family.

This is a multicultural demographic serving library and I like how the books and media reflects it. There is a Japanese, Chinese, Vietnamese and Korean section of books and magazines, as there are with traditional European languages.
It is family focused and there is a children’s section with mini furniture.
It looks understaffed. The workers seemed overworked. There was a large stuffed panda sitting in an employee’s desk in the children’s area.
I went about at noon on Monday and all the Internet computers were being used, so I had to use the children’s computer.
The internet is faster than Fountain Valley’s public library but it is still a bit slow than normal.
There is a bookstore with bargain books.
I like that there is a labyrinth in front of the library.
Behind the library is a patio and beyond that is a lake with ducks and some picnic tables. You can take a pleasant stroll, walk your dog, and have a picnic.
Irvine High School is close by.
It is on the corner of Walnut and Yale behind the fire station.

–security: this library has a security guard walking behind u making you as uncomfortable as it gets.
–noise: loudest library ever! People are extremely loud talking and laughing and people who work there don’t care at all, maybe it’s because they’re AS LOUD.
–wifi: if you’re lucky to be there when the wifi is not down, it’s extremely slow! Yeah the last time I was there the wifi was down and the staff had no idea when it’ll be fixed! So after wasting my time and money driving there, finding a parking space, and trying to connect to wifi for 5 – 6 minutes I just had to go back home!
Clean? No! Desk tops, chairs, and the worst of all… The bathroom are soooooo damn dirty!
Note: every Starbucks I’ve been to is less noisy than this library and their wifi is never down at Starbucks. Just saying!

Although this is a library, it was oddly quite loud on my most recent visit. There are a number of tables located in the center and many families engaging in full blown conversations — so it’s not a place I’d recommend bookworms to study. Nevertheless, this library does have a really good selection of old school dvd’s and a hardback books, which is what’s most important!

Great location, the staff there very friendly, very understandable if u are late. Great experience at the library.

wow this is the loudest library I have ever been to I came here needing a quiet place to study thinking a library would do the trick! people at the front desk were talking loudly the entire time! Do not come here to study very distracting.

This library has some bad juju or something going on with it. Every time I visit — which isn’t often, because bad juju — I get this weird feeling. It might be the security guard standing at the entrance, staring at everyone.
Which brings me to: Why does this library need a security guard? It is located in Irvine, for goodness sake. It’s next door to a fire station. What in the world is going on in the library to warrant hiring security? I’ve visited many libraries all around Orange County and have never seen security guards at any of them. Why this one?
Also, the children’s books are in terrible shape. A lot of them are dirty, torn or missing pages. I understand that kid’s books see a lot of wear and tear, but these books are just plain neglected.

This library is great on week day mornings when there aren’t too many kids running around.

This library needs a face lift ASAP. I have lived in Irvine most of my life, and this library looks the same as it did 20 years ago. The restrooms don’t get any attention throughout the day– no toilet paper and the doors get jammed. The Wi-​Fi is incredibly slow, I had to leave and go to Starbucks to get some work done. I have recently explored other other county libraries and sad to say this library does not even begin to compare.

I am sad to write this but my experience with this library has been very unfortunate. When I stopped by this library to buy books for my two sons one of the workers there approached and ATTACKED me due to my ethnicity. The lady in the book sales department questioned my origins and when she found out that I was part Turkish she started to harass me on the Armenian Genocide. She spewed forth hatred words accusing me of murder. When I wasn’t even born during the time period the supposed Armenian Genocide happened! I respect her opinions however it was neither the right place nor the right time to bring up a topic like this (especially with children present). I am greatly disappointed that some of our fellow citizens live with such deep animosity.

We keep discovering new areas of this library, like the nice patio in the back. They have a huge selection of books, graphic novels, magazines and DVDs. It is also our hub to the 30+ libraries in the Orange County Public Libraries system.
Let me tell you why I am madly in love with OCPL. Over the years I have kept an Amazon wish list (and I emphasize WISH) of about 70 books I really want to read, from classics to very recent best sellers. The dollar amount of those books is in the 1000s. So far, I have been able to fill my OCPL list with more than 50 of those titles, and as a bonus, the whole Hayao Miyazaki animation collection!
It is crazy that every time I come across a book I will want to read in the future, I search here and they have it! Did I mention all of this is FREE and manageable online? You can also pay 25c and they bring any title to the OCPL library of your choice. Wow!

Did you know that you can rent DVD’s here? Like Game of Thrones?
Well now you do. So, if you need a book or a DVD, head to the library!
You’re welcome.

I am very disappointed with my experience at the Heritage Park Regional Library. It was disappointing to walk into a library that looks disrespected, and not kept well. First off, the library is dusty, old, hasn’t been vacuumed in ages, and the bathrooms are even worse. Granted I am using the Men’s Room, but I don’t understand why the toilet seats haven’t been cleaned well, why their are stains and dirt and debris on the ground. Hygiene is extremely important to me, and should be to a place of business especially one funded by the city.
THEY HAVE ROACHES!!! I’m not talking a lot of cigarette butts, I am talking actually insect roaches that crawl on your shoes and pants, and create a feeling that you have walked into an establishment that has no pride or respect for what they do, or what they give to the community. I am thoroughly disgusted at the fact that there were insects in the bathrooms. I immediately went to the front counter to inform the librarian, and the two people at the counter looked at me as though I had intentionally left the vermin their myself.
A library is a library. People will be there with their children, and children will be inconsiderate of others because they are children. You will find books here, or they can recommend somewhere for you to find them, but if you are looking to go, relax, study or enjoy a quiet time in a CLEAN and Safe Place, I don’t believe that you will find it here at the Heritage Park Regional Library.
I believe that the staff is very polite and courteous, they are attentive and helpful, but unfortunately that could not save the fact that the establishment is absolutely filthy. I would not recommend that you come to this library, and if you do, avoid the restroom, unless it has been cleaned, and sprayed for vermin.

Heritage Park is one of the bigger libraries in the area. That being said, the computers probably have been here since the time the library opened. They take forever to bring up info, and my iPhone can probably pull up information off ocpl in about half the time.
The wireless here is pretty sketchy too. It’s just incredibly slow, and I’m not sure if it’s because of the number of users or they just don’t have the means to speed it up.
It’s still a decent place to borrow books. Their selection is far better than the other libraries in the area.