The largest bilingual public library in North America, OPL serves the community across its 33 branches. It covers a vast territory that spans 2,700 square km from downtown in the Nation’s Capital out through suburbs and beyond to rural regions. Continually innovating its wide array of programs and services to meet the needs of a diverse and intergenerational clientele, OPL responds to what children, parents, teens, adults and older adults are looking for from their public library.

OPL employees and partners work diligently and collaboratively to create physical spaces that attract customers who wish to browse displays and  shelves for surprise discoveries, as well as spaces for those who want to zero-in on quick and specific  information using OPL’s free WiFi or public computers. For some customers, the OPL is a place to meet friends and familiar faces, or to sit quietly and read and be surrounded by new ones. For others, it is a classroom, an office, a meeting space. For many, it is all of the above.

The OPL curates an online virtual space to access collections, reserve and check out books, and to flip through 75 comprehensive digital collections. Also online, OPL has cultivated an active social following on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram where people connect to share opinions and news about reading, learning, and current events, as well as to interact with their Library. The OPL travels to extend its presence and increase accessibility through its Bookmobiles and Homebound services.

Keeping up with a global standard for innovative and flexible library branches, OPL invests in its facilities. We retrofit to optimize accessibility and create inviting communal spaces. Accommodating both the customers and the communities around them, OPL operates several sustainable branches, such as Beaverbrook and Greenboro; models of energy-efficient and environmentally-friendly buildings that harmonize with the nature and life surrounding them.

A safe and welcoming place, OPL’s spaces are ideal for exploration and discovery. The Library is a great “equalizer” in the community, providing a free and democratic arena for everyone to meet, grow, and self-improve through the many resources offered.