Since opening in October 2016, Tulsa City-County Library’s Central Library, Fifth Street and Denver Avenue, has been as popular as a new best-selling book.
With a daily traffic count of more than 1,500 people, a steady flow of customers are exploring new library features like the maker space, digital learning lab and scenic study rooms overlooking downtown Tulsa.
Just as different technologies and new features are popular at Central Library, so too are printed books.
“This is an exciting time as visitors continue to marvel at the beautiful downtown library,” said Buddy Ingalls, Central Library manager. “Earlier this year we recorded our 100,000th checkout of printed materials at Central Library since reopening and we wanted to highlight the achievement with a special gift for the lucky customer.”
As Michael Mullens checked out several books by his favorite romance author, Brenda Hampton, he was surprised with an Amazon Echo.
“I was not expecting this. It was a real shocker to win,” said Mullens, who regularly visits Central Library. “As a reader, I appreciate the new library and how easy it is to find the books you like to read.”
Now librarians are preparing for the next milestone: the 1 millionth checkout.
“Even as many readers transition to accessing library materials on tablets, smartphones and other digital devices, there is still a strong demand for a physical copy of a book,” said Ingalls. “Our main objective is to connect people with information in a format they prefer. It won’t be that long before we are celebrating 1 million.”
For more information on Tulsa City-County Library programming and activities, call the AskUs Hotline, 918-549-7323, or visit the library’s Web page, www.tulsalibrary.org.
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