About the Library
Arcade Learning Library
2443 Marconi Ave. (west of Fulton Avenue)
Sacramento, CA 95821 map
Branch Manager: Barbera Bass
Services
Number of Computers by Type:
| Internet/Office | Express | Kids Only | Teens |
| 19 | 1 | 4 | 3 |
Meeting Room Available (must register in person)
School visits may be arranged by appointment
Pay phone on site
Information
Arcade Branch Library was opened on April 1, 1941 in the home of Mrs. Day near the corner of Fulton and Edison Avenues. On March 10, 1950, it moved to a 600 square feet store-front at 3348 Fulton Ave. in Kittley Corners. In March 1964, the branch was relocated to 2727 Marconi Ave. in Town And Country Village. The facility had 2,887 square feet, a book collection of 15,000 volumes and offered service to the public 59 1/2 hours per week.
TODAY
Most of the area served is urbanized commercial and residential and has about 50,000 people. The collection consists of 67,000 items. These include books, magazines, pamphlets, CD-ROMs, audio-tapes, videos, DVDs and CDs. There are word processors with Internet access provided through the Gates Foundation, and a Meeting Room that may be scheduled for public use.
The most distinguishing feature of the Arcade Library is the architecture. The library is built partially into the ground and has a distinctive blue tile roof. The remodel, completed in 9 months in June 2005, refurbished the library, providing more space for teens and a reading room for periodicals, and new carpet, furniture, and a better design to help improve service to customers. The Donald Dean Watson Community Room has been named in honor of the donor who bequeathed $100,000.00 for the remodel.
There is a good collection of large-print books. The library has one of the larger collections of Russian-language materials in the Sacramento Public Library system. There are also smaller collections of Spanish, Persian and Chinese-language materials. The library has a full-time children's librarian who provides both preschool and school-aged programming. The Library Literacy program, serving all of Sacramento County, is based here. Room is made available even during library closed hours for tutoring pairs to use. We offer family and adult programs regularly, as well.
There is a paid teacher who uses the computer training lab here to regularly teach free classes on the basics of using computers, the internet, the library catalog and databases, and word processing.