Where to Study (or Not): Rating the Tulsa Public Libraries
Picture of hardest regional library frome @suzannwoodsfisher instagram
By: Olivia Cannon
Every time I try to study in my house I feel like I'm the least productive person to exist. From wanting to crawl back into my warm bed and just go to sleep or my brothers screaming while playing some video game studying at home is just insanely difficult, but if I studied in a cafe every day my bank account would cry at the cost of having to buy some overpriced coffee just for a quiet warm place with wifi to get some homework done. Luckily libraries exist to give you a free study space with wifi. In this article, I’m going to rate the different public libraries all within eight miles of the school. I will rate the libraries on a scale of one to ten based on their noise level, their vibe and aesthetic, their seating, and their charging stations because we all know the school-assigned Chromebook's battery life is non-existent. Rating these libraries I’ll start off with the closest to the high school being only 0.4 miles away, and the smallest library I visited, and then will work our way out to the furthest library being just less than eight miles away.
Picture of the Jenks library from the @jenks_chamber instagram page
Jenks Library 4/10
Seating/layout
The Jenks library is a small space but well organized with two square tables with four chairs each in the middle area. Right next to the entrance are two long tables full of computers for the public to use. There is also a printer which you can use with help from the librarian. The library has a colorful rug with bookshelves surrounding it on three sides, the shelves packed with picture books, in the middle of the rug is a mini table and chairs the perfect size for a young child, off to the side there is a toy box filled with puppets and other toys for the kids to play with while their parents read. Behind the children's bookshelves is a countertop lined with charging ports. The countertop is built into the wall with big windows facing out to the street and letting in lots of natural light, this is where I sat down. Across from that in the opposite back corner is another countertop mirroring the one I’m sitting at, in front of that counter are two small booths that you could also study at both with their own charging station. The Jenks library had lots of private seating and lots of charging ports making it an ideal study spot.
Aesthetic and environment:
The second I stepped in the door at 4:30 I was greeted by a smiling librarian who was walking by carrying a tall stack of books to put on the pickup shelf. The small building was full of people so I sat down at the counter in the back of the library on a tall chair. Looking out the window I could see the sun beginning to set, this would be a perfect study spot, with lots of natural light, and the sun setting in front of me would typically make for a pretty relaxing study environment but the library never seemed to grow quiet. The Jenks Library was very alive with all kinds of sounds, a group of teenagers gossiping at one of the square tables, and a pair of preteen boys loudly laughing over a comic book at the tall counter across the room from me. The sounds of a father teaching his son the alphabet with a picture book “J is for Jaguar” and “K is for kangaroo” the young boy and his father probably read, or the sound of clomping feet as young kids walk around the aisles looking for the perfect book. Not only was the library very noisy but also it was absolutely freezing the whole time I studied I thought I was going to catch hypothermia, it is important to note that I tend to be colder than other people, and just as I thought I was about to get used to the temperature the air conditioner screams on blowing cold air out of dusty vents. The later it got closer to dinner, and more groups of people began to leave. Still, they were always replaced by other sounds like a tutor helping a young girl with her science homework, or the sound of the chairs screeching when moved the tiniest inch, and just as I got used to the noise a group of young Girls Scouts begins there meeting in the back room shouting the pledge loudly and echoing it through the library. The young girls no older than eight each in a matching blue smock begin their painting class, each voice shouting to be heard over the others as they sit at big tables happily painting.
Overall experience and rating:
I stayed at the Jenks library for two and a half hours and in that time I was pretty productive but it was a rough start until I got used to the background noise of constant chatter that studying in a public place could create, I also could have happened to pick a busy day than normal to study. Overall I rate the library a 4/10 because of all the noise, how cold I was, and other factors. I think this was a fair rating for my experience there. This would be an amazing library for a family trip but not really the best for studying.
Picture of peggy Helmerich library from the tulsalibrary.org
Peggy Helmerich Library 8/10
Aesthetic/vibe:
The first thing I noticed while driving up to the Peggy Helmeric library was the beautiful outside. The whole parking lot was surrounded by trees of all different shades of fall with bright red, orange, and yellow trees that put you in a good mood to study. Walking through the front door you enter a glass hallway with a view of an outdoor reading area, as you turn to the left to walk into the library you enter a room with teal and purple striped carpet squares. The ugly stripy floor squares matched the off-white walls with purple, and teal accents, which gave the environment a strangely warm and inviting energy. The outside of the library was beautiful and the inside had a little bit of a strange aesthetic but the skylight and lots of colors really made it a pretty environment to be in. The library also had a weird but not necessarily unpleasant smell something like cardboard, and Elmer's glue, that brought back memories of kindergarten craft time and added to the comfortable energy in the room
Seating and layout:
When walking through the front door you step into a glass hallway. The window in front of you looks out to a small outdoor reading area. To the right are the bathrooms, the door to a big meeting room, and to the left is the library. Walking through the library doors you are hit with bright light but not too harsh you are standing in the entranceway the cheek-out station is directly to your right, to your left is a help desk, and directly in front of you is a big round desk with the book drop, and a librarian setting in the middle. Towards the left is the children's section with four round tables with four seats each and to the left is the adult section, which had a seating area with couches and armchairs and two tall round tables just big enough to fit two people these were the only two tables with charging ports, to the right of the sitting area is rows and rows of books and in between are three more four-person tables. I sat at one of the tall round tables, a weird brown stain on the striped carpet where it looked like someone spilled their coffee.
Noise level:
Studying here was not difficult it was fairly quiet except for the muffled sound of shuffling feet, the ding of people scanning books out, and the increasingly irritating sound of an older man who seemed to have to loudly clear his throat every two minutes, who is sitting right behind me at one of the two long tables full of computers. the noise level varied throughout my visit starting out with a few people shuffling around and a clearing throat but the Peggy Helmerich's library slowly got quieter as more and more people left the sound of shuffling feet and hushed voices disappearing into a calm and comfortable silence.
Overall Experience and Rating:
This library was very nice to study at I got a lot of work done, the inside and the outside of the library are both very pretty and it was a very quiet and peaceful environment, especially after the man who was clearing his throat left, although they didn't have a lot of seating with charging ports, and if you wanted a smaller more private table there were only two spots, so overall I’m rating the Peggy Helmerich Library an 8/10
Picture of Hardest Regional Library of of tulsalibrary.org
Hardesty regional 10/10
Aesthetic and layout:
The hardest regional library is giant, with a giant archway entrance with a huge wall of windows, and right in front is a statue of giant books stacked on each other, each made out of a different kind of stone. The doors opened to reveal a ginormous silent room, to my right is the kid's section, they get their own room decorated with fake trees and shelf after shelf of books, and directly in front of me is a staircase with a small sign next to it with explained the first floor was for Adult fiction, children's collection and media, and the second floor had more of the adult collection, genealogy, young adult books, and study rooms. I headed up the staircase to find a spot to study and when reaching the top step was met with the beautiful sight of the whole wall made of windows sunlight streaming through in beams flooding the big room with warm natural light creating a beautiful atmosphere.
Seating and noise level:
Along the banister of the stairs are personal studying desks so I took a seat at the first one. The Hardest Library was silent except for the occasional sound of shuffling papers, and library carts, the silence had a comforting and warm vibe. With several people spread out around the study space all silently working in unison. My desk was right next to a charging port so when my Chromebook began to die I could plug it in easily.
Overall Experience and Rating:
overall this was my favorite library to study at, it was very pretty and I don't have any complaints about it. I give the Hardest Regional Library a 10/10 for how silent and pretty of a working environment it was
Picture of Henry Zarrow Library frome tulaslibrary.org
Henry Zarow 2/10
Aesthetic and layout:
The parking lot of the Henry Zarrow library was surprisingly packed, and when you walked in you stepped into an entryway with a library security desk and a man dressed fully in black sitting behind the desk who nodded at me before I walked forward to go through the glass doors into the library. The walls are a blue-gray that reflects the harsh lights, the squeaky tile floor is a mixture of randomly placed blue, purple, green, and yellow tiles among the white squares. The Henry Zarow library was the most interesting inside but maybe not the best for studying, the wall behind the vibrant rows children of books, with a railroad crossing sign stuck onto a pillar in the middle, the technology room was off to the side in a room that can close with a big glass garage door, inside is already printer and row after rows of CD’s and DVD's and five computers, and two tables one of which was taken. There also is a computer lab area next to six rows of tall bookcases each stuffed with all different kinds of books, on the other side of the tall shelves are three tables all of which were full, and some more smaller shelves.
Seating, vibe, and noise level:
I sat down in a squeaky chair at the only empty table that happened to be in the technology room, as I studied the sound of the 3D printer humming and kids in the computer lab playing as background noise. Twenty minutes into studying my computer died and there were no charging ports at the table I was at or anywhere open in the technology room that I could use, luckily one of the three tables out in the main area was now open and had a charging spot on the floor next to it. Out in the main area, it was much louder, the sounds of the young boys playing video games and a girl around my age constantly yelling at her computer was now closer to me, but the library became quiet shortly after I moved and the silence was even worse then the noise, the silence brought with it a thick uncomfortable feeling as if someone was watching you.
Overall Experience and Rating:
I really didn't like this library and it was very unproductive because of all of this I gave it a 2/10.
After visiting several libraries, I found that they all had a wide range of environments, but the Hardest Regional Library stood out as the clear winner for its quiet atmosphere and beautiful environment for studying, and I highly recommend trying it out next time you need to focus on some homework. Every library I visited had something unique to offer and even if it's not the best for studying it may be perfect for a family trip, choosing the right library for you will ultimately depend on your needs and one of the many Tulsa Public Library will be a perfect fit for whatever you need.
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