Bizzell Memorial Library, University of Oklahoma, USA

Bizzell Memorial Library, also known as Bizzell Library, is a five-story brick structure located at the University of Oklahoma (OU) in Norman, Oklahoma. It is in the Collegiate Gothic or Cherokee Gothic style, designed by the architecture firm Layton Hicks & Forsyth, a prominent Oklahoma architectural firm.

The TU Library owns a number of books published by the University of Oklahoma Press, a well-known academic publisher.

Collegiate Gothic is an architectural style associated with Gothic Revival architecture, popular in the late-19th and early-20th centuries for college and high school buildings in the United States and Canada, and to a certain extent in Europe. It was modelled after older English Tudor and Gothic buildings.

According to tradition, Cherokee Gothic is a term invented by the famous American architect Frank Lloyd Wright for the architectural style used on the campus of the University of Oklahoma, supposedly influenced by the artistic traditions of Native American tribes of Oklahoma as well as the European Gothic style.

The TU Library collection contains a number of books about Frank Lloyd Wright.

The Cherokee are one of the indigenous people of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Today there are three federally recognized Cherokee tribes: the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians in North Carolina, the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians (UKB) in Oklahoma, and the Cherokee Nation (CN) in Oklahoma.

Bizzell Memorial Library was built in 1928 during the administration of OU’s fifth president, William Bizzell.

Among the improvements during the tenure of President Bizzell was significant expansion of the university’s library system.

Bizzell Memorial Library is the flagship research library in the state of Oklahoma and of the University’s system of eight libraries on the Norman campus that hold a combined 5 million volumes. Bizzell also houses the University Libraries administration; the History of Science, Nichols Rare Books, Bass Business and Bizzell Bible Special Collections; and the University of Oklahoma School of Library and Information Studies. The University of Oklahoma Library System is a member of the Association of Research Libraries (ARL), a nonprofit organization of 124 research libraries at comprehensive research institutions in Canada and the United States. ARL member libraries make up a large portion of the academic and research library marketplace, spending more than $1.4 billion every year on information resources and actively engaging in the development of new models of scholarly communications.

The library’s website contains a message of greeting from Professor Carl Grant, Interim Dean of Libraries:

WELCOME

Welcome to the University of Oklahoma Libraries! The Bizzell Memorial Library and our branches are your active, personal collaborator in knowledge creation throughout your time at OU. Whether your academic goals are in achieving progress in learning, teaching or research, we can provide you valuable assistance by offering extensive resources ranging from traditional books, special collections, maps and serials to research data sets, 3D data models, and all of the related existing and emerging technologies needed to use those resources. We offer instruction courses to teach those skills, including basic software, computer and data skills, as well as research data management, digital scholarship and media literacy. We have a lending program that includes everything from laptops to a telescope, as well as textbook lending. You’ll find the libraries team provides support through helpful guidance and expertise to help you to find the most appropriate, authenticated, authoritative resource, surrounded with context in order to best meet your information needs. Explore the libraries website to learn more, take a tour, or ask us!

You’ll also find that the libraries can become a home-away-from-home. We have welcoming physical spaces that allow you to choose spaces that best work for you, whether you prefer to work in groups, individually, in quiet, or surrounded by activity. Food and coffee are available in the Bookmark Café in Bizzell. You’ll also find throughout the library many different types of seating, with enough choices for everyone to find something comfortable in which to work. Our goal is to provide you with exceptional library experiences, be it physical or virtual.  

OU Libraries serve as the intellectual crossroads of the university, a place where you’ll meet people from other colleges and organizations, as well as other countries. All are welcome here. All are encouraged to interact with each other in order to build a deeper and better understanding of each other, our cultures, and ideas.

Please join us as we help OU forge a new future of Sooner excellence.

Sooners is the name given to settlers who entered what is now the state of Oklahoma before the official start of the Land Rush of 1889. This refers to people who arrived sooner than they were expected to do so. Oklahoma has been popularly nicknamed the Sooner State since the 1920s.

The library’s mission and values are the following, as stated on its website:

OUR MISSION

The University Libraries, in support of the mission of the University of Oklahoma, develops and maintains programs that provide access to the informational resources necessary to fulfill the academic, research, artistic, scholarly and community leadership objectives of the University. University Libraries also recognizes its obligation to the local community, the state, other libraries, and scholars in general.

OUR VALUES

• The University of Oklahoma Libraries serves the University of Oklahoma community by being open and inclusive. We build trust with our community and with one another by actively demonstrating these core values in all that we do:
• Innovation: We recognize our role in the co-creation of knowledge and are dedicated to facilitating opportunities for experimentation across disciplines.
• Collaboration: The libraries are committed to working in partnership with departments, colleges, campus and community groups across the university, the local community, state, nation and globe.
• Diversity & Inclusion: We recognize the role of diverse life experiences in creating knowledge that expands perspectives and bridges boundaries. The libraries strive to encourage an inclusive environment that supports curiosity and the free exchange and discussion of ideas. OU Libraries, in accordance with the university and in compliance with all applicable federal and state laws and regulations, does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, genetic information, gender identity, gender expression, age, religion, disability, political beliefs, or status as a veteran in any of its policies, practices or procedures.
• Engagement: We are committed to fostering engagement among those we serve and recognize our commitment to engage with and be a model for a wider and interconnected professional community.
• Integrity: We are committed to evidence-based planning, decision-making, financial stewardship and management, and to the regular evaluation of organizational performance. We are dedicated to treating others fairly and with respect and being ethical and honest in all things.
• Learning: OU Libraries value the lifelong pursuit of knowledge and are committed to creating environs for Sooners to thrive.
• Agility: We are committed to teamwork, flexibility, and responsiveness to meet the changing needs of faculty and students.

Among special resources of the library are collections in

the history of science, western history, Chinese literature translation, business history, 15th century to contemporary English, European and American literature, the Bizzell Bible Collection, and the personal library of Daniel J. Boorstin, one of America’s most distinguished and influential historians…OU maintains one of the most important collections of books and manuscripts in the history of science in the United States. It includes Galileo’s own copy of the work documenting his use of the telescope to support the Copernican theory, with corrections in his own handwriting.

The Chinese Literature Translation Archive, located on the 4th floor of the Bizzell Memorial Library, contains over 10,000 volumes and documents from the world’s greatest translators of modern Chinese literature including Howard Goldblatt, Wolfgang Kubin, Wai-lim Yip and Arthur Waley.

OU has an active Thai Student Association which participates in nmany competitive sporting events, include soccer, volleyball, and basketball.

An Asian Oklahoma Night, a joint effort with the university’s Asian American Student Association, spread knowledge of Thai culture at the University of Oklahoma. Thai Night is also sponsored by the Thai Student Association.

(All images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)