Ottawa Public Library / Bibliothèque publique d’Ottawa

This is fabulous library offering a wide range of services, and book collection. There are great nooks and tables to read or study. The staff are helpful and widely available and the place is very clean.
The only downside is the architecture is bland, given the historical buildings downtown. There are also lots of people down on their luck who hang out here during the day. I don’t mind, in fact I actually like it. But it might turn some people off.
Wifi is free and fast, but you have to be a registered card holder. No wifi for visitors.

I used to love getting new release DVDs and books from opl but since they changed their system a couple years ago, DVDs that I used to wait six months for now it takes up to two years now just to be able to get anything! They put DVDs on the express shelf and people hover over those like rabid hyenas. Its insane. But not only that, the little secret as to why we wait over 2 years now for anything new is the opl staff has first dibs on all the new material-​DVDs –books-​CDs and they can keep those for weeks-​months on end without having to return them, only when they wish to. Do you think its fair when you wait legitimately for media or books and have to wait that long. I gave them two stars because the only thing I order from opl are e-​books but now even those I have to wait weeks for a digital non physical copy. Go figure? Its not worth it anymore going to the main branch, yuck yuck the horrible smells, the fleas and bugs jumping around — makes my skin crawl. I stream my movies online now, its more gratifying.

This is an alright library but the fact that this is considered our «main» library can be considered an embarrassment.
It really does need updating and yes, it’s large and centrally located but by only cramming the place full of books I think we’re seeing a lot of people not drawn to this community resource.
The downstairs of the library has a small theatre for readings and presentations. It’s a good size in that it’s not too big for events such as readings.
The library itself will have pretty much anything you need and of course if it doesn’t just ask someone on staff to order in the book or material you need from another location or they can advice you where you can find it.
The first Ottawa Public Library I was in was actually at Centrepoint and I was really impressed by how bright, clean and modern that place felt and the second OPL I was in was in Rockcliffe and then Sunnyside. All three of these branches are beautiful.
However, OPL’s main branch on Metcalfe and Laurier does not compare and that’s a shame because this is supposed to be the main one!

This library is huge! I used to love coming here as a child for storytelling in the children’s section. Now, as an adult, it’s kind of like a candy store for those that love to read. They have 3 levels of pretty much any kind of reading and research materials that you would need, including maps, academic journals, public records, dictionaries, encyclopedias, historical/​special collections, fiction/​non-​fiction, children’s books, comics, and audio tapes/​CDs and videos. There is plenty of tables and seating for reading and studying, computer stations for Internet browsing and catalogue searching, and even a small coffee and tea shop with very reasonable prices.
The library is fully accessible and easy to navigate around, and they have the most helpful staff. The 24-​hour book drop and the fact that they take Interac are extremely convenient. The only problem I ran into was trying to get a library card. They have separate desks just to sign up for a library card, but they wouldn’t let me because my ID didn’t have an Ottawa address on it. I had just moved here and they were asking me for utility bills or a tenant’s agreement, which, of course, I didn’t have on-​hand. So I decided to just sit and read inside the library, and before I knew it, I ended up spending hours there!