This branch of the Ottawa Public Library is located at Ben Franklin Place, a beautiful building in…read moreCentrepointe. As Darren mentioned, this place is super helpful for Algonquin Students, which was why I ended up there in the first place - but not for the reason you might think! I needed to find a location for a photography assignment and my professor suggested Ben Franklin Place. "Really? A library?" was my first thought. Never doubt your photography teacher. This place is beautiful - a little oasis in the heart of Nepean. The building itself is beautiful, but the landscaping is fantastic (yes, I'll get to the books, I promise). There's a huge fountain that's turned into a skating rink in the winter, a lovely garden with beautiful flowers and plants and a shaded seating area. This first time I didn't even make it inside! I now visit this library every Saturday where I tutor a six year-old. Their children's section is outstanding - sweet librarians like you read about in books, a massive selection of books and crayons and colouring pages to keep little ones busy. The library also offers a ton of services for job seekers, new Canadians and those interested in learning about computers. The book selection is fantastic, and I love that you can rent e-books online. If you're looking for a quiet spot to study, a playgroup for the little ones or a place to learn something new be sure to drop by. The building also houses the Centrepointe Theatre, tons of meeting space and a beautiful inside fountain (you know, in case you need to make a wish). Happy reading Yelpers!

Great selection, friendly staff. Love the fact they're ope 7 days a week, just wish they had…read morelonger hours on Sundays!

I've learned to love the library all over again! Sometimes I want a quiet, distraction-free place…read moreto work where I don't have to buy a coffee (or...a cookie. Or muffin. And gain 5lbs. Haha!). I'd visited the Orleans library a few weeks prior with Noah K, and wasn't super impressed. I heard there was a second location attached to the Ray Friel Centre, and decided to check it out. I went in with low expectations, but I really loved this library! Attached to the Ray Friel Centre, as mentioned, I bet it's a great spot for families. It was really busy, even at 10 in the morning. I've also worked here around 2 p.m. and it was just as busy then. There's a great computer area here, and lovely section with comfy chairs and a beautiful stone mantle (I think the fireplace is fake though, ha!). There's a dedicated spot for ancestry research, and I noticed the Orleans Historical Society has a meeting room here. They have a fantastic selection of DVD rentals here, and a massive Children's Library. This is a much better location than the other Orleans library, and I absolutely recommend it if you need a quiet place to work, need to do some research, or love to read. As with all Ottawa Public Library locations, you need your library card and pin number to use the wifi.

Its an amazing experience it's calmness peacefulread more

The most popular tourist spot in Ottawa, Parliament hill has a magnificent walking pathway in front…read moreof the Parliament house that starts from the Fairmont Chateau Hotel, through Centennial Flame and House of Commons and ends at Confederation building. A lot of the prettiness has been hindered by the on going renovation construction work at the Parliament house. Yes the area is maintained beautifully, all grass are trimmed, flower and gardens are picturesque. At the corner, there's a lookout area that overlooks the city of Gatineau, Quebec, across Ottawa river. There are restrooms under the lookout pavement. Lots of security personnel are assigned to keep the whole place safe and organized.

Amazing hill of the Parliament Buildings. Wonderful architecture. It was amazing to tour the…read moreinterim House of Commons on West Block. Looking forward to coming back when the construction is complete.

Very small, but busy library. This Rosemount branch is the oldest Ottawa Public Library branch…read morestill operating in its original building (which was built in 1918!) It did undergo renovations in 2021 though. It has a modern-looking entrance, but most of the library is still classic-looking. It has big glass windows and let's in lots of natural light. This library accepts used batteries for recycling. The recycling container is a long cylinder and it's located to the right when you enter the building. I almost missed it the first time I was looking for it. I was expecting a big box like at places like Lowe's or Home Depot, but it's a small-ish cylinder. Great neighbourhood library! (39)

This is my local OPL branch and even though it's small, it's still one if my favourite spots in the…read moreneighbourhood. The area immediately surrounding the library is currently under renovation which makes it a tad noisy, but that will be done in the coming months. There's a decent collection at this branch and I can almost always get a recent DVD or museum pass from the Express section. Jennifer, the librarian is great, as are all the staff that I've interacted with. They offer lots of programs, including baby, toddler and family storytime programs for kids that I have been bringing my son to for years. It's a great activity for the kids and a nice way to meet some other parents in the neighbourhood.

Commenting as a tourist, I was able to go there even though it's being renovated (will be complete…read moreby 2032, apparently). You can even go into a legislative session (need to bring a governmental ID and pass a security check) to see parliamentary procedures and democracy in action. Definitely worth checking out!

The place that runs Canada. The parliament building, modeled after the Big Ben in London, has an…read moreamazing site. Currently it's going through some renovations, so two gigantic cranes are towering over the building. Very popular site with tourists. There are huge boards that provide details of the building and the government. Visitors can the building too but we saw a long line. Lots of law enforcement officers in the area to keep everything safe and in order.

Beautiful architectural design for a supreme court. No known tours for this place.few mins. Walk…read morefrom house of commons

The tour took us to the Federal Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court of Canada courtrooms. All the…read morematerial in areas accessible to the public are foreign and expensive building material while the washrooms and non-publicly accessible areas used Canadian building material. The ceilings of the court are high to express the stature and importance of the Supreme Court of Canada. I have to say, the washrooms were nice too. Security staff were courteous, unlike the Supreme Court of the United States - think that says much about Canada. :) Interestingly, the chairs of the judges of the SCC are all custom made so that all the judges sit all around at the same level. As a lawyer, you only get an hour to make a concise argument for your case so the importance of written factums (written submissions) are very important. Typically cases are heard in 1 day, but there are cases that take 2 days to be heard due to the high number of intervenors. The library, which is not accessible to the public, takes up most of the third floor of the building. For the general public, the library isn't probably somewhere you'd want to see or check out. It's has the legislation of all provinces/territories, secondary sources, and also European/British sources too. You can only borrow books for typically 24 hours.

Nice place overall. Not a welcoming entrance, but once you're past that it's very welcoming. Very…read moremuch a "find it for yourself" feel, rather than help you find what you need. However I'm sure if you ask, you'll be helped. Incredibly quiet, especially for the number of people in the building. Every floor is silent. There's big open seating areas as well as many computers and chromebooks to loan (in library only).

This library is huge! I used to love coming here as a child for storytelling in the children's…read moresection. 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!

The purpose of Library and Archives Canada is to preserve and display various pieces of Canadian…read moreheritage, such as art, music, archival records and books. There are many interesting events constantly being offered at this building, often for very cheap. However, the reason I'm reviewing this government building is to reveal one of my favourite offerings that perhaps more people could benefit from. The Library and Archives often runs film festivals, usually focusing on films from specific countries. It's even less known that even when they don't have a festival running, the LAC often screens foreign and Canadian films and docs. Admission is almost always cheap. Keep an eye on their event listings through the above website link.

I came here for a Architecture lecture in the library. The place itself is beautiful and…read morewell-maintained, with a lot of white as part of the décor. Washrooms are clean, there is always security on site, and the models and art on the walls are beautiful as well.

This is my usual location for the Ottawa Public Library and have had a great experience here. Love…read morebeing able to put holds on books and have them delivered here for pickup. Relatively small library but with the holds, you can get any book you want. Often wait times can be quite long for books so it can be tough if you want to read something more urgently. High tech checkout self service computers. Staff are super friendly and helpful! So happy to have access to this great place

This is the library I frequent most. True, it's the closest one to me, but it doesn't hurt that it…read morehas a quaint location next to the Rideau Canal with a flower garden along the front. The Sunnyside location is small and I sometimes run into problems with getting available copies of certain books without having to resort to interlibrary loans. However, I've also found some great titles here, including fiction, non-fiction and films. I also enjoy that books can be renewed online if you're having troubles finishing that last book before the deadline. I just have two big beefs with this branch. It seems no one enforces the time limit on the computers. So if you go and all the computers are in use, you may be waiting a long time. I waited until closing one time when my Internet was down at home; needless to say, I didn't get a computer. Second beef: the staff is almost always grumpy. I've gone here many times so I find this track record weird. I've even had some of them pretend they didn't hear me when I was asking for help. Honestly, it's the worst I've ever seen to the point it's funny. But this is still a great spot. Come down and snuggle up with a book in a comfy chair by their big windows that face the canal.