Library and Heritage Park
by Stacey Kuhns
On Saturday, November 7, 2015, my mom, my boyfriend, and I, went to the Cerritos Library (located at 18025 Bloomfield Avenue, Cerritos, CA 90703). The library is open seven days a week, Monday-Friday from 10-9, Saturday from 9-5, and Sunday from 1-5.
You may wonder why in the world we decided to go to the library. Well, this is not just any library. My guesstimate is it costs many millions of dollars to build (the entire outside it done in titanium plates!).
If you have children, this is a very worthwhile adventure. I personally could have spent the entire day there. As it was, just walking around the library and seeing everything took a few hours.
The library is a little difficult to find. It is located in a complex with the police station and Court Clerk's offices, but once you get there, you will be amazed. There is a sculpture garden in the complex that is beautifully done. It is directly across from the police station.
There are fountains outside of the police station, a beautiful sculpture fountain near the parking area, and a dolphin fountain with water coming up from the ground that kids can run through. There is also a grassy area with cool trees that kids can climb in and on.
The complex is beautiful and a wonder in itself, but the library is the main attraction. I think my mouth was hanging open the entire time we were there. When you walk into the foyer of the library, the first thing that catches your eye is the Children's section. There is a two-way fish tank and an amazing entrance to the Children's area that reminded me of Disneyland.
The inside of the Children's section is magical. A wonderful assortment of books, but it is also a feast for the eyes. The furniture is designer type furniture, in kids size. There is a self-checkout for the kids. The help desk was done in neon and provides scratch paper, coloring pages, and lots of information booklets for kids. There is a T-rex skeleton, a tree with bird sounds, and a lighthouse with a dock. You can sit inside the lighthouse and read. They have books in many languages and there are so many cool areas for kids to sit. There is also an art room where they teach classes and have crafts at certain times.
On the first floor of the library, there is a gift shop, several gorgeous reading areas, a check-out desk that looks like it belongs in a 5-star hotel, and a Teen area that I at first thought was a restaurant. There is famous artwork displayed throughout the library.
There are escalators to get to the second floor as well as elevators. There are computer terminals with computer pads in the Children's section and many computer terminals throughout all the other sections, with free wifi. There is a room for art exhibits and music room with hundreds of CDs. There was a digital sign that showed all of the things going on at the library, such as pajama night, movie night, algebra tutoring, and art exhibits.
Upstairs is incredible. It is made to look like a futuristic area. There are private rooms to reserve that have state of the art seating and tables with computer hookups, many sitting areas that offer beautiful art and views. The seating alone is incredible.
There is even a room with at least five copiers that are open for use.
All in all, this is a truly amazing place. I took at least 100 pictures inside the library alone. It is well worth the drive to Cerritos. And that is not all! As I drove away from the library, about a block away, I saw something amazing out of the corner of my eye. I kept driving, but after a few blocks realized I had to explore what is was, so I turned around and we found ourselves at Heritage Park (located at 18600 Bloomfield Avenue).
The park is truly astounding and I was again reminded of Disneyland. It is fashioned to look like Charleston, South Carolina. This was the view I had seen from the street.
The park has a "normal playground" but also has beautiful buildings, waterfalls, baseball field, tunnels, areas to reserve for parties, bridges, a lake/moat surrounding it, and plenty of grassy areas.
There is even a boat to climb on. There are plenty of sea birds (ducks, cormorants) as well as turtles by the hundreds. You cannot touch the turtles as they are roped off, but they are fun to watch, swimming, sunbathing (together with the ducks), and there are plenty of baby turtles too.
There is a little village and the church building. Inside all of the buildings are climbing and play areas for the kids. It is truly incredible.
Between going to Cerritos Library and Heritage Park, you have a wonderful, fun-filled day for the family; definitely worth the drive. The park is open daily from 10 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Let me know how you like it!
