I have the same experience with the big downtown l...

I have the same experience with the big downtown library as everyone else: The place is full of homeless people. This should not be treated as a shelter and they should limit people's computer time in a total way. 1 free hour per day, then you pay for it would probably solve a lot of the issue. (Bonus thought: Maybe donate the proceeds to the homeless shelter so they can get adequate space and facilities.) Just strung out people playing peggle or similar games on 3/4 of the huge computer bank, which was entirely full.

As for the staff, they were a little terse and rude. How can they not be, though? They are professional librarians, I assume, very educated people who wanted to work in a learning environment, not what clearly acts as a secondary homeless shelter. I hope that they're EXTREMELY well paid, because they deserve to be, for the level of existential despair this situation must cause them.

And really it's not the fault of any of the people in question. This city is a joke; its poverty level is obscene. It's a sign of a much larger problem, which the library cannot control. Get involved in politics and get this damn city's public resources up to par and this wouldn't be such an issue. Clean up the police, which is full of corruption and doesn't actually solve crime. Create job opportunities for all these people.

Don't be disgusted with the library, be disgusted with Oklahoma City. This library is a direct, pathetic reflection of what it really is. It can have a shiny veneer if you're an affluent person, and all you see is the pretty stuff. The library's architecture, for instance, and all that. But what the city really is, is desperately poor, with little opportunity, and huge endemic problems. I'm ecstatic to be moving to Denver soon.