503 Bartlesville Public Library, Bartlesville, Oklahoma

The library in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, has been on my "to visit" list for a long time, and as I learned when I visited, my motives were ... not quite what I thought. Let me explain.

Some years ago, probably seven or eight, I read a story about Miss Ruth Brown, the Bartlesville librarian from 1919 to 1950. What did I read? Where did I find it? I have no idea. But whatever it was, it mentioned a 1950 movie, Storm Center, starring Bette Davis as Miss Ruth Brown. I found the movie on line and convinced my local library to buy a copy. Through all of this, my brain has been adding bits and pieces to my understanding of "Miss Ruth Brown of Bartlesville," and in June 2019 I made my first-ever trip to Oklahoma. And there I was set straight by a couple of librarians.

First, my brain had done what it appears many others have done over the years: I remembered the story of Miss Brown being fired because of some supposed Communist literature that she declined to remove from the collection. I forgot about the real issue, that she wanted the library to be free and welcoming to all comers, including people of color.

Second, my brain had grabbed onto the movie scene of the library burning...which the librarians told me never happened in real life. They asked if I had read The Dismissal of Miss Ruth Brown, and I had not. I now have it on request with the Minneapolis, MN, library; I'll pick it up on Friday.

So, was this a "wasted" trip? Absolutely not! The Bartlesville library is now in a new (1992) building, and it is totally worth a visit by this blogger...or anyone. Let's look around.

    

   

I set off into the youth area. Don't those dark blue walls look great, with the white and wood accents?  Shown below are two "bays" of picture books, three shelves high and with many attention-grabbing books on the top. I know they are attention-grabbing, because I spotted two I'd never seen before and put them on my list of books to find when I get home.

    

The new books in the youth area would be hard to miss, with this great sign.

I remember taking this picture, fiddling with angles that kept people out of the frame. Look at those wonderful big windows lighting this area! If you look closely at the top of the shelves on the right, you can get a glimpse of one of many bags of books. At first I thought they were "book club in a bag",,,that's what they would be in my home library. No, these are bags of books on topics like Hospital, Halloween, and Gardening.

Four iPads are available for kids to use.

Sometimes it's everyday little details that catch my eye, like these sliding bookends in the adult fiction and non-fiction stacks. I've seen a variety of bookends that hang from the shelf above, but I don't think I've ever seen any like these. I like the design, from an engineering point of view,

This "corner office" appears to be a station for job-hunting activities. I like the idea that it is set up like an office. If someone has lost a job and needs a place to search for a new one, it might be a good ego boost to conduct some of the search in this environment.

Most of the libraries I've visited have pretty strong policies about cell phone use: "Take it to the lobby!" "No cell phone use allowed!" And these policies are regularly violated. This policy here seems more realistic, simply asking that ring tones be silenced.

On the other hand, please don't think you can take your phone into a study carrel and proceed to carry on a loud conversation! It's distracting, and we really don't need to know your business.

OK, I took this picture simply because the ceiling intrigues me.

Time for some serious reading and studying. There are a few small study rooms to the right, and a computer nearby is designated for homework only...NO Internet connection. Therefore, no social media!

The reference area is still well-stocked with books, which I like to see. More and more libraries are drastically shrinking, or even removing, paper-based reference materials.

What I especially like in the reference area are the sloping tops to the shelves. Many reference books are large and heavy; it's very convenient to have a place to rest the book while you look for information. Surprisingly, I don't recall seeing shelves like this in other libraries. Well, except for some children's areas where they are much lower and support picture books for young readers.

Finally, this appears to be a multi-purpose meeting room. with both an easel with a flip-chart and a flat screen TV--the traditional and the new, each with its role to play.

I learned after my visit that plans are afoot to update the floor, enlarge the teen area, revamp the DVD area and make many other updates.  The director says, "We are a library that is transforming and becoming a hub for our community." And that suggests that I may need to make another trip to Oklahoma in a few years!

6/28/2019