The Bizzell Library is the most elaborate and iconic building on the OU campus. It was built in 1928, with additions completed in 1958 and 1982. Featuring the incredible great reading room, five stories of shelves, a rare book collection, study areas, and more, the library is a favorite study place of many students on campus, including myself. The exterior is elaborate Cherokee Gothic architecture: castle-like towers and walltops, tall windows, elaborate detailing.

The interior is equally majestic. The main entrance greets you with the smell of books and old wood. Ascending the stairs to either side, you find yourself in a beautiful hallway from which two sets of huge double doors lead to the great reading room. When I first walked into this room as a freshman, I felt as if I were walking into the great hall of a castle. The ceiling, already high at the edges of the room, rises toward the center, supported by large wooden beams. Long lights reminiscent of canvas-clothed lanterns hang from those beams. Three of the great reading room’s walls are also exterior walls, and each of these is literally half windows – large, tall windows which run nearly the entire height of the room. Every bit of wall space not taken up by windows is bookcases filled to the brim with books. Long tables fill the room’s interior. No talking is permitted in the great reading room; when walking in, you get the sense you’re living in a much older century.

No account of Bizzell would be complete without mention of the canyon garden, a 2-story architectural masterpiece visible from ground level but only accessible from the second basement. This secluded, oft-forgotten garden contains only plants native to Oklahoma. All kinds of flora flourish here, from trees and ivies which grow more than thirty feet to the top of the walls to small bushes and flowers. The narrow red brick walls ensure the garden is shaded for most of the day. I have spent many spring afternoons here reading or doing homework in the peace and quiet, away from the noise and business of the rest of the campus. Unique features such as this are what make buildings like the Bizzell Memorial Library so impressive and memorable.