While commercial bookstores and coffee bars are a common urban sight, few things testify to the cultural wealth of a community as much as does a well-appointed library. The Tempe Public Library is a community resource, used by residents and visitors of all ages, that combines the services of a traditional library with the electronic resources that today's visitors have come to expect.

The Tempe library offers innovative programs such as the Digital Bookmobile. This program features free eBooks for download, as well as music and video and audio books that can be downloaded to your computer at your home using your library card. The Bookmobile serves as a resource for informing the users of the Tempe Public Library how easy it is to take advantage of electronic reading resources.

Libraries have always been more than a place to check out books: They're a forum for the community to share information. To that end, the Tempe Public Library offers events that feature training on subjects such as using the Internet to job hunt, discussion groups regarding various books and much more. There is even a mystery book club held monthly on Saturday mornings where lovers of sleuth tales come to discuss their favorite capers.

The Tempe Public Library features not only Internet access and resources, but access to the one thing whose importance to literary endeavors is possibly only exceeded by paper itself: coffee. The Connection Café offers all the variety of a commercial books store's café but with the added bonus of being an important representation of providing library services to the community. If you're looking for a place to unwind and socialize, the Tempe library and the Connections Café are excellent options and very convenient to the downtown shopping district for which the city is widely known.

01/12/10

Altered States: Paintings by Gordon Cheung art from the Stephane Janssen Collection will be presented by ASU Art Museum through April 10, 2010