There are many uses for libraries- checking out books, reading current periodicals, researching, working on projects and more. However, in Omaha , fitness enthusiasts or those interested in reading, researching or finding out more about a fitness topic can find themselves confronted with intoxicated vagrants or gang members who are regular inhabitants at several of the OPL branches, notably the main branch-W Dale Clark on 14th and Farnam and the Charles B. Washington branch at 30th and Ames.
The later library does offer a Zumba class for dance fitness enthusiasts, but it's only offered once a week, hardly enough for weight loss, and performed at more of a beginner level. Exercise books can be found at all the branches, but the staff is not well versed on the topic, so it is best to know what you are looking for when you go finess book hunting.
The staff can be friendly to surly, depending on who waits on you. The patronage can be an entirely different issue. At Washington, gang mambers and thugs seemingly are catered to at will, and there is a teen section known as "The Spot" that is glassed in and walled off, where loud music and a big screen TV blare music and BET shows. The main branch is as bad with seemingly the whole homeless population of downtown Omaha rushing in when the doors are unlocked to grab all the available computers - to get on Facebook and watch You Tube videos. Good luck trying to do something productive with the sporadic noise and chaos that insues.
You are probably best off- and safer from health hazard point of view- if you go to Barnes and Noble or Borders and simply peruse the fitness books there. There is a far better selection in general found in these popular bookstores as well.
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