“There’s no place like it,” said Joyce Cooper, director of branch services for the Los Angeles Public Library. “Where else can you just walk in off the street and get help for whatever you need?”

When libraries started reopening after the worst of the pandemic, Cooper and her colleagues noticed an uptick in the number of people using their local branch as a de facto co-working space.

She gets it.

“It’s a nice, quiet place to be if you don’t want to be home and you don’t want to buy a coffee,” she said. “Also, our Wi-Fi speeds are off the charts.”

While some coffee shops dissuade their customers from spending the day working in their spaces by setting time limits for how long you can sit at a table, or restricting outlet access, Cooper and her team are doing just the opposite.

To support patrons who want to use the library as a co-working space, the Los Angeles Public Library recently launched a project to install tabletop outlets in more of its branches and ensure that there are more hydration stations where people can fill up their water bottles.

“Our mission is to connect people to the resources they need,” Cooper said. “That may not be a book, but maybe it’s help applying for MediCal, or CalFresh, or making it easier to use our spaces.”

Your local library might be the most convenient place to spend the day soaking up that specific library hush — not to mention the free air conditioning — but if you don’t mind a little extra driving, you can find some truly extraordinary libraries that you are equally welcome to utilize.

Here are 10 of my favorites with tips on where to park and sit.