My wife has been working for years on opening a new branch library in our town of Terre Haute, Indiana. It finally opened! Here is an image gallery. It might not be what you would expect. [OC]

This is a branch library in one of the poorer parts of an already depressed town, so they are wanting to use it as more of a free community activity center, and the community it’s in will need it.

The library is not gigantic. It was formerly a funeral home. But they did an amazing job fixing it up.

Some of the features this library has or will have soon:

• A test kitchen with restaurant-grade equipment.
• A workshop with a tool library for lending.
• A clean-up room featuring a washer, dryer and shower free for use.
• A playground and splash pad for kids.
• A huge patio deck for reading, relaxing or whatever else you might want to do.
• Just a pleasant place to hang out.

And, of course, the expected things like a children's area, meeting rooms, a teen area, a small computer lab and a small collection of books and DVDs.

Before you start complaining about how “libraries don’t have books anymore!” The book stacks are still a 10-minute drive/bus ride away at the downtown branch. The books aren’t going anywhere. Libraries are more than just books. They are one of the few places the community can get all sorts of resources and a place to access them for free