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#OTD in 1935, the world’s first parking meter debuted in Oklahoma City. 175 meters were installed and tested on fourteen blocks in downtown OKC that day. At that time, the parking meter charged a fee of five cents an hour.

By the early 1940s, there were more than 140,000 parking meters in operation across the U.S. ... See more

If you’ve ever lost an argument with a meter maid or gotten a ticket 30 seconds after the timer expired, direct your anger toward Carl C. Magee.

We cannot be more excited!!! 🤗 #OKBookFest

Announcing the first three authors! We are pleased to announce these award-winning authors will be at the Oklahoma Book Festival in October!!! #OKBookFest 📚🎈

Alton Carter
Cynthea Liu
Hannah Harrison

Alton Carter is the 2016 Oklahoma Book Award winner in the Young Adult Category for his book, THE BOY WHO CARRIED BRICKS.

Cynthea Liu is the 2016 Oklahoma Book Award winner in the Children’s Category for her book, BIKE ON, BEAR!

Hannah Harrison is the 2015 Oklahoma Book Award winner in illustration for her work on the book EXTRAORDINARY JANE.

See more about each author:
www.altoncarter.net
www.cynthealiu.com
www.hannaheharrison.com

More authors will be announced soon!!!! ... See more

It's time to enter the 2019 Oklahoma Book Awards!

Authors, illustrators, photographers and book designers… Download the call for entries for the 2019 Oklahoma Book Awards!

Remembering former ODL director, Bob Clark...

ODL News In Memoriam: Robert L. Clark, Jr. June 14, 2018 Bill Young Sad news. Former ODL Director Bob Clark died on May 26. He had been suffering from Post Polio Syndrome for the past several years, but his wife Audrey says he remained active despite his physical difficulties. In fact, he remained a... ... See more

This looks fun!

Don't miss the Kiamichi Owa-Chito Festival of Forest this weekend, June 15-16! travelok.la/_FestivalOfTheForest

Come out to Broken Bow City Park and celebrate the beauty, history and heritage of Visit Choctaw Country at this annual outdoor bash featuring live music, food trucks, forestry competitions and more. Read all about it at the link above, and come see for yourself! ... See more

We wish Steve Beleu a happy retirement! Steve joined ODL in March of 1979 as a librarian in the U.S. Documents Department (now the U.S. Government Information Division) and became head of that department in August of 1985. For most of his tenure, ODL was a Regional Depository, meaning it received all publications from the U.S. Government Printing Office. As more and more information moved online, Steve shifted his focus to training people in how to find U.S. Government information on the internet. For the past decade and a half, he has held regional and state training sessions for thousands of librarians, business people, and members of the general public.

Little known fact about Steve... he spent many years surveying miles and miles of caves around Oklahoma. He and a team of explorers ventured into the unknown underground and recorded their findings.

He starts his new adventure at the end of June.

Maybe some more spelunking? ... See more

Congratulations to this year's Oklahoma winners in the Letters About Literature competition:

•Level 1 (grades 4 through 6), Allison Turner, Jenks East Intermediate
•Level 2 (grades 7 and 8) Anna Boevers, Belle Isle Enterprise, OKC
•Level 3 (grades 9 to 12) Christine Nguyen, Edmond Santa Fe High School

These young readers each wrote a letter to an author, living or dead, whose work had an impact on the student. Each received a cash prize from the Friends of the Oklahoma Center for the Book. Thanks to a contribution from Friends member Laurie Williams, the students' school libraries each receive a $1,000 cash prize! Nguyen split the library prize between her school library and The Village Library.

https://libraries.ok.gov/ocb/letters-about-literature/ ... See more

#OTD in 1910... In the dead of night, the official state seal of Oklahoma was moved from Guthrie to Oklahoma City.

There have been countless myths surrounding the move, all of them suggesting that the state seal was stolen. But was it? ... See more

"...boarded the south-bound train and returned to Oklahoma City at 10:20pm. According to the papers, the whistles screeched, the bells rang and the auto horns tooted, and the governor was met by a great reception committee and paraded to the Lee-Huckins Hotel. After twenty years of struggle, Oklahom... ... See more

Interesting history of the museum at the OKC zoo...

Lincoln Park Bathhouse, Oklahoma County

Although most of the land for Lincoln Park was acquired by 1909, it remained underdeveloped until the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) provided the labor for projects. The plans for Lincoln Park were developed by the National Park Service and the Oklahoma City Parks Department. In addition to the bathhouse, the CCC also built picnic tables and an amphitheater using native stone. Lincoln Park eventually became the Oklahoma City Zoo, and the bathhouse has become a museum for the zoo. The museum tells the story of the CCC in Oklahoma City and its relation to Lincoln Park and the Oklahoma City Zoo. To read the National Register nomination, go to http://nr2_shpo.okstate.edu/pdfs/16000620.pdf. ... See more

Every January or February, ODL Director Susan McVey and Deputy Director Vicki Sullivan head to the State Capitol Building to meet with the Oklahoma Senate and House appropriations committees to report on past agency accomplishments and to answer questions about the ODL Budget Request.

During the hearing, we share our successes and expenditures in a way to demonstrate the agency’s accountability to our lawmakers and the state’s taxpayers.

We thought we would share some of the information pieces we assembled for our hearings and meetings with state and federal lawmakers this past spring.

Check it out at news.oklibshare.org. ... See more

Federal Funding, ODL News, Oklahoma Public Libraries, State Aid Accountability and Advocacy on the Hill, and at 23rd and Lincoln June 7, 2018 Bill Young Oklahoma librarians and fellow library advocates presented U.S. Representative Tom Cole with an Oklahoma Library Association Resolution, thanking h... ... See more