Full Circle Books – Oklahoma City, OK
Full Circle Books is on the street level of the towering glass building at 50 Penn Place in Oklahoma City. 50 Penn Place is essentially a mall with a high-rise office tower added on top. It was a very high-end place to shop during the oil boom of the 1980s, but I believe there was some connection with a banking scandal not long after it opened. It was still nice in the early 2000s but perhaps no longer carried the clout the address once did. Full Circle is one of the few bookstores for new books I’ve included in this collection of essays. Bookstores dedicated to selling new books can feel cookie-cutter, sadly, without soul. Full Circle is simply better than nearly every other bookshop, including independent bookshops.
Despite, effectively, being in a mall filled with polished tile and dated chrome fixtures, this bookstore has a very charming atmosphere that feels apart. Antique shelves, rolling ladders, lots of wood, other vintage fixtures, worn rugs over hardwood floors, and plenty of comfortable seating. It all adds up to a welcome place in a bibliophile’s heart. The warm fireplaces, a cafe with wicker chairs, and strategically placed air-pots of complimentary house-blend coffee certainly don’t hurt either. At least, that’s how it was when I haunted this bookshop in the early 2000s. I was always sure to bring a travel mug along since everyone was welcome to help themselves and even encouraged to keep drinking their free coffee. It was wonderful.
The staff at Full Circle know their business, too. Professional booksellers who make excellent recommendations and charming selections to stock cannot be overpraised. The newsstand at Full Circle put the nearby Barnes & Noble to shame. Even the stationery selections were impressive. And you could always pick up a copy of the local alt-weekly, for better or worse. The one feature of the store that was already feeling unnecessary by the aughts was a sizeable selection of Lonely Planet and Frommer’s travel guides. A healthy travel section is a thing of beauty, but I would imagine the usefulness of these print guides was already waning by then.
Full Circle has a long history in the Oklahoma City area. I believe it started in Norman, home of the University of Oklahoma in OKC’s southern suburbs, but moved closer to the heart of the city in what was then fairly recent history.
The cafe was home to several regular book clubs, and the location for author visits. One memorable one for me was Ace Atkins, a mystery and thriller writer whose books I enjoyed. There wasn’t exactly a throng of people at his event in 2010, so there was time to make small talk. He asked about my work. I told him I worked for the Historical Society. He was interested in that, signing his book to me, “Keep history alive…” which was nice.
The cafe was also home to the regular meetings of my small writers’ group. By “my,” I mean the one in which I was the youngest, least experienced member. I was starting to write regularly for work, including educational materials and exhibition texts at the Oklahoma History Center, the flagship museum of the Oklahoma Historical Society, but I was just beginning to entertain the idea of writing for myself. The other four generous-hearted people in this group still mean a lot to me today, though I’ve neglected to keep up with everyone. And though it’s been over a decade since we met, I still wish we could.
About the Author: Benjamin L. Clark writes and works as a museum curator.