Downtown Library

A sleek flagship library, just a smidge too small and with poor options for parking.
I was looking forward to seeing this library. A tradition I have is to visit the central library of every city I find myself in. It’s smaller than it looks from the outside, but I enjoy the wedge shape of each floor.
Ultimately it’s small for a city this size, although there are plenty of seats and outlets to use.
The major downside is there is no convenient parking nearby, and all meter spots are one-​hour max, which is not enough time to make use of a library. Of course paying for parking anywhere should be a violation of the Geneva convention. A dedicated garage for the library would do wonders.

Downtown Library is the capital, so to speak, of the Metropolitan Library System, so it has quite a bit packed into one building. There are 3 floors, if I am remembering correctly.
There are your standard collections – fiction, non-​fiction, childrens, videos, serials & periodicals, gov docs, fiche & film, etc and so forth. Computers are available on each floor for folks to use. There’s a reference desk if you need assistance. There’s also tons of space to use. The beautifully lit atrium has tables for people to plop down at and crack open a laptop or a book. There are several meeting rooms available and even classrooms up on the 3^rd floor.
The fiction and non-​fiction sections felt smaller to me, but there’s the factor that special collections, government documents, and the MLS administration offices are housed here. But that’s ok, because if the book you desire is at another branch, the trusty folks at MLS will get that to you in a jiffy, thanks to the awesome-​ness that is Interlibrary Loan (ILL, for short, as we call it in LibraryLand). I didn’t get a chance to look at the special collections, but apparently they have special collections for geneology, the Holocaust, and Oklahoma. Special collections are always worth taking a look at, in my opinion, so I hope to get a chance to in the future.
I had to drive around a few times for a street spot to open it, but that is fairly normal for downtown. It is definitely worth the trip, though. The space is beautiful, well-​lit, and has plenty of resources to meet your information needs.

Love the Downtown Library. Lots of information desks — lots of places to sit at tables — café — what’s not to like?

Books, movies, audio books, newspapers, events, and more. How have I not been here sooner?
There is even a room with a pretty abundant selection dedicated to Oklahoma, though its hours are from 1:30 to 4:30 Monday through Thursday. I don’t understand that one…
Areas where you can sit and read. Computers. and Quiet rooms. Advertisements for events.
Really, I could go on and on… but I think you should check it out for yourself.

Review:
This library has plenty of computers so you don’t have to wait very long if you need one, it has a wonderful staff, it has tons of everything you need. Also a full cache of community programs for people looking to build skills, get back on track or become part of the community.
My favorite parts:
1. The movie and music section, there is old BBC here, a couple of CDs of Faulty towers, some great documentaries and a wonderful classical section so I can stop listening to that one Nationals album over and over again at work
2. There are study rooms, rooms that you can reserve and they are like private offices, internet, nice chairs, great for actually doing some work.
3. The place is beautiful
4. They have an out of town news section so I can read about Boston sports and Philly politics to keep up with places that I miss.
The should be bad but it isn’t:
1. Late fees, I know there was a paper written about cost benefit on late fees, I know someone got their PhD because of it, cause they capped the late fees at 3 dollars. What an awesome thing to do, I still owe the Media library 70 bucks for books my ambulance partner spilled grape juice on.
2. Lines, being crowded. This place is never crowded
3. Old ornery librarians, there are none of them, staff is wicked helpful.
The bad:
Only open 1 – 4 on Sundays
They don’t have dailies from different cities
The DON’T have the smell of urine and mold like libraries I remember.
Comments:
Wow… first for the public library.
I not only love libraries, I have had real relationships with libraries. My first one, was full of books that were just old enough not to be helpful, but was the place you needed to be or the place you told your parents you would be.
Oklahoma down town library is like one of those first libraries, full of memories of youth and wonder, but all grown up and you haven’t seen them for a while and they turned into this amazing person.