Metropolitan Library System (Oklahoma)

The Metropolitan Library System (MLS) had 5.87 million circulations in the 2015-2016 Fiscal Year. The MLS has consistently had about 6 million circulations each year for the past decade. The [http://www.metrolibrary.org/edmond-library Edmond branch] of the MLS has the highest total circulation of physical materials of all MLS locations.[http://www.metrolibrary.org/sites/default/files/mlc_2017_01.pdf MLS Commission Packet - Jan. 2017: Page 32 of 43]

The MLS has 1,343,826 items in its collections.[http://www.metrolibrary.org/sites/default/files/mlc_2016-01.pdf MLS Commission Packet - Jan. 2016: Page 42 of 63] The vast majority circulates. The collection is 76.3% books, 7.5% D.V.D., 6.5% C.D., 6% [http://emedia.metrolibrary.org eMedia], 4% periodicals, 1.6% Audio Players, .2% Video Players, and .2% other materials by items. Information about the collection by titles is needed to gain a real perspective of the collection, but the MLS is clearly a paper-pages-book in hand public library.

You can help add to the collection via [http://mymls.metrolibrary.org/patronRecommendation/authenticate.html suggestions] or [http://www.supportmls.org/donate_materials donations], but either way the materials will have to meet the selection policy.[http://www.metrolibrary.org/guiding/selection-policy Selection Policy]

File:Swan Memorial Library, Harrah, Oklahoma.jpg

File:Nicoma Park Library, Nicoma Park, Oklahoma.jpg

Metropolitan Library System operates 19 locations.[http://www.metrolibrary.org/locations Locations]

• Almonte [http://metrolibrary.org/almonte-library Library]
• Belle Isle [http://metrolibrary.org/belle-isle-library Library]
• Capitol Hill [http://metrolibrary.org/capitol-hill-library Library]
• Downtown [http://metrolibrary.org/downtown-library Library] (Ronald J. Norick Downtown Library)
• Northwest [http://metrolibrary.org/northwest-library Library]
• Ralph Ellison [http://metrolibrary.org/ralph-ellison-library Library]
• Southern Oaks [http://metrolibrary.org/southern-oaks-library Library]
• Wright [http://metrolibrary.org/wright-library Library]

• Bethany [http://metrolibrary.org/bethany-library Library]
• Choctaw [http://metrolibrary.org/choctaw-library Library]
• Del City [http://metrolibrary.org/del-city-library Library]
• Edmond [http://metrolibrary.org/edmond-library Library]
• Harrah [http://metrolibrary.org/harrah-library Library]
• Jones [http://metrolibrary.org/jones-library Library]
• Luther [http://metrolibrary.org/luther-library Library]
• Midwest City [http://metrolibrary.org/midwest-city-library Library]
• Nicoma Park [http://metrolibrary.org/nicoma-park-library Library]
• The Village [http://metrolibrary.org/village-library Library]
• Warr Acres [http://metrolibrary.org/warr-acres-library Library]

There are multiple types of library cards with borrowing privileges. Each card comes with [http://www.metrolibrary.org/library-cards/card-holder-responsibilities responsibilities].[http://www.oscn.net/applications/OCISWeb/DeliverDocument.asp?CiteID=76227 O.S.C.N. - O.S. Title 11, Chapter 1 § 31-104][http://www.oscn.net/applications/OCISWeb/DeliverDocument.asp?CiteID=76229 O.S.C.N. - O.S. Title 11, Chapter 1 § 31-106]

The Metropolitan Library System provides many services.[http://www.metrolibrary.org/services Services]

Borrowing physical and digital titles via the [http://catalog.metrolibrary.org Public Catalog], [http://metrolibrary.org/research Databases], [http://metrolibrary.org/askalibrarian Ask a Librarian], [http://www.metrolibrary.org/tailoredtitles Tailored Titles], [http://www.metrolibrary.org/ged Adult Education, GED and Literacy Programs], [http://www.metrolibrary.org/books-by-mail Books by Mail], [http://www.metrolibrary.org/kids Children's Services], [http://www.metrolibrary.org/family-place Family Place], [http://www.metrolibrary.org/comereadwithme Come Read with Me], [http://www.metrolibrary.org/room-rentals Meeting Rooms & Rental Spaces], [http://www.metrolibrary.org/oklahoma Oklahoma Memories], [http://www.metrolibrary.org/printing Printing], [http://www.metrolibrary.org/computer-wifi Public Computers & WiFi], [http://www.metrolibrary.org/rss RSS Feeds], [http://www.metrolibrary.org/relay-services Relay Services], [http://www.metrolibrary.org/teens Teen & Young Adult Services], and [http://mymls.metrolibrary.org/patronRecommendation/authenticate.html Suggest a Title]. Also, the MLS provides an Interlibrary Loan service for items that aren't in the MLS's collection.

Some services are available for all members, while some services are limited depending upon library card type.

The Metropolitan Library System has been involved in a number of controversies and accusations of censorship. Many express concern that extreme cultural conservatives exercise an inordinate amount of power over the system.

In 1997, the system was placed in the center of a dispute regarding the film "The Tin Drum". The conservative group "Oklahomans for Children and Families" checked out the film, as well as other material from the Library, and began accusing the library of being a harbor for "obscene" material, including the film in question. Members of the group began attending meetings of city councils around Oklahoma County, and were able to convince a number of these cities to pass resolutions regarding the group's goals.{{cite web |url=http://bubbaworld.com/ocaf.html |title=Oklahoma Department of Libraries |website=bubbaworld.com |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010730141217/http://www.bubbaworld.com/ocaf.html |archive-date=2001-07-30}}

Eventually one of the group's leaders turned over a copy of the film to local police. This resulted in the film being declared obscene by Oklahoma County District Judge Richard Freeman; as a result, all known copies of the film were seized from both libraries as well as individuals who had rented copies from video stores.{{cite web |url=http://www.bubbaworld.com/tin-drum-1.html |title=The Tin Drum Fiasco - Part 1 |accessdate=2007-04-27 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928175756/http://www.bubbaworld.com/tin-drum-1.html |archivedate=2007-09-28 }} However, the film's prohibited status was eventually revoked after the film's ban provoked further controversy and allegations of censorship.

In August 2005, the Library Commission voted 10-7 to move "easy, easy-reader, and tween" books containing "sensitive or controversial" themes to an area that could only be accessed by adults. The decision was based primarily on concern by cultural conservatives that books that advocate acceptance of homosexuality, such as "King and King", were accessible by children. Staff of the Library system opposed such restrictions, and the American Library Association strongly condemned the decision.{{cite web |url=http://www.ala.org/ala/alonline/currentnews/newsarchive/2005abc/september2005abc/oklacity.cfm |title=ALA | American Libraries - Oklahoma City Restricts Controversial Children's Books |accessdate=2011-03-26 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110222090945/http://www.ala.org/ala/alonline/currentnews/newsarchive/2005abc/september2005abc/oklacity.cfm |archivedate=2011-02-22 }} Prior, state representative Sally Kern had spearheaded an effort to keep such books away from children; in May 2005, the Oklahoma House passed a nonbinding resolution to "confine homosexually themed books and other age-inappropriate material to areas exclusively for adult access and distribution", primarily due to Kern's efforts.{{cite web |url=http://www.ala.org/ala/alonline/currentnews/newsarchive/2005abc/may2005ab/oklagay.cfm |title=ALA | American Libraries - Oklahoma House Passes Anti-Gay Lit Resolution |accessdate=2011-03-26 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110222081811/http://www.ala.org/ala/alonline/currentnews/newsarchive/2005abc/may2005ab/oklagay.cfm |archivedate=2011-02-22 }}

The Commission's decision was implemented in February 2006 as a "Family Talk" section that contained such controversial content. Further restrictions were added in November 2008, when the Commission added the requirement that such material must be placed at least 60 inches off the ground in order to be out of the reach of many children.{{cite web |url=http://www.gossip-boy.com/Cornett_and_Library.html |title=Cornett and Library |website=www.gossip-boy.com |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081211072150/http://www.gossip-boy.com/Cornett_and_Library.html |archive-date=2008-12-11}}

In December 2008, bloggers James Miko and Wayne Fuller accused Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett of working with Steve Kern, the husband of Rep. Sally Kern and pastor of Olivet Baptist Church in Oklahoma City, to make nominations to the Metropolitan Library Commission based on the issue of disallowing children access to such controversial books. The "Gossip Boy" blog had obtained a copy of a leaked conversation with Kern, where he mentioned his nominees for the Commission and mentioned that one "won’t take a lick of nonsense from the homos."{{Cite web|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lisa-derrick/oklahoma-politicos-homos_b_149502.html|title = Oklahoma Politicos: "Homos" Should be Ordered into Treatment|website = HuffPost|date = 8 January 2009}}{{cite web |url=http://www.truthwinsout.org/blog/oklahoma-city-mayor-pastor-team-up-to-purge-libraries-detain-gays-in-ex-gay-re-education-camps/ |title=Truth Wins Out - Oklahoma City Mayor, Pastor Team Up to Purge Libraries, Detain Gays in Ex-Gay Re-Education Camps |website=www.truthwinsout.org |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081214202243/http://www.truthwinsout.org/blog/oklahoma-city-mayor-pastor-team-up-to-purge-libraries-detain-gays-in-ex-gay-re-education-camps/ |archive-date=2008-12-14}}

In July 2022, the library system ordered its workers not to provide information about abortion to guests, saying in a memo, "If a staff member gives any information on how to obtain an abortion, then that person may be found personally liable and will also make MLS liable."{{Cite web |title=Oklahoma Threatens Librarians: 'Don't Use the Word Abortion' |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/oklahoma-threatens-librarians-dont-use-the-word-abortion/ |access-date=2022-08-02 |website=Vice.com |language=en}} One librarian described the order as "dystopian" and noted that the order violated the American Library Association's Principles of Intellectual Freedom. After public backlash, the library system hastily clarified that librarians could "provide factual information" but "should not offer opinions surrounding the law."

{{reflist}}

• [http://www.metrolibrary.org/ Metropolitan Library System]

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Oklahoma

Category:Libraries in Oklahoma

Category:Education in Oklahoma County, Oklahoma