Ronald J Norick Downtown Library
Oklahoma’s library is the Ronald J Norick Downtown Library, a branch of Metropolitan Library System, which serves 808,866 people and lent 9.3M items last year.
What stands out about Ronald J Norick Downtown Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
44% of borrowing is digital
9.3M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
4,069,279 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 78 kids’ programs a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $2.84 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Oklahoma cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $48M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $138M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $48M budget.
Fine-free. No late fees on books returned late.
Retail prices are typical, rounded down: a new book $17, a kids’ book $12, an e-book or e-audiobook $15, a movie rental $4, a class or program $10, a computer or Wi-Fi session $3. The average cardholder’s month = the library’s yearly loans, attendance and Wi-Fi sessions ÷ its 420,711 cardholders ÷ 12.
9 places to borrow in Oklahoma
Ronald J Norick Downtown Library, 300 Park Avenue, Oklahoma City.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Metropolitan Library System branch.
New in Oklahoma? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other Metropolitan Library System branches in Oklahoma
Every hour the doors are open, about 147 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Metropolitan Library System system. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S. A tiny town’s library always looks busier per person, so it’s only compared with its own size.
Metropolitan Library System serves 808,866 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Libraries next door
Who has a library of their own, and how much each town borrows. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yukon | Yukon Mabel C. Fry Public Library | 8.7 | 64 |
| Tuttle | Tuttle Public Library | 1.1 | 36 |
| Oklahoma | Ronald J Norick Downtown Library fine-free | — | 70 |
| Midwest City | Midwest City Library fine-free | — | 70 |
| Edmond | Edmond Library fine-free | — | 70 |
| Newcastle | Newcastle Public Library | — | 61 |
| Del City | Del City Library fine-free | — | 70 |
| Jones | Jones Library fine-free | — | 52 |
| Moore | Moore Public Library | — | 72 |
| Choctaw | Choctaw Library fine-free | — | 70 |
| Spencer | None of its own | — | — |
Loans = print + digital items borrowed in the library’s fiscal year, per person it serves. — = no library of its own, a county or regional system (its numbers cover many towns), or no report.
About these numbers
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Hours are an average. The survey reports a building’s public hours for the whole year. We divide by the weeks it was open, so check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
- Compared by size. “Similar-size” means libraries serving about as many people, nationwide. Per-resident numbers always flatter the smallest towns, so they’re never compared with big cities.
- The library’s own count. Libraries report their own visits, loans and programs. A library that didn’t respond keeps its address and hours here, with no numbers.
- System-wide. Ronald J Norick Downtown Library is one branch of Metropolitan Library System, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 808,866 people it serves.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Oklahoma.
Your answer becomes a post in Town Square.
Libraries: Institute of Museum and Library Services, Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024. Each library reports its own numbers. Distances are straight-line from the town center. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.