当然，图书馆仍然出借书籍并提供上网，但也有不少图书馆正在开发利用最新技术和运动热潮。

在加利福尼亚州(California)，图书馆员杰西卡·扎克尔(Jessica Zaker)在萨克拉门托(Sacramento)公共图书馆分馆教授朋克摇滚健美操课（punk rock aerobics class）。在图书馆内的另一个场所，她的同事洛瑞·伊斯特伍德(Lori Easterwood)教授来图书馆的人如何将他们在电脑上做的设计用最先进的3-D打印机（3-D printers）变成实物。

阿拉巴马州(Alabama)特洛伊大学(Troy)在图书馆安装了带笔记本电脑桌的运动自行车（exercise bikes with laptop tables），以便学生能在锻炼身体的同时也锻炼他们的大脑。

图书馆也能发挥社区中心的重要作用，在这里人们可以聚集在一起开展儿童活动、学习英语及组织社区活动。

一位威斯康星州的企业家开创了小小免费图书馆(Little Free Library)运动，已经在全美所有50个州以及40个其他国家的社区当中设置了“拿一本书，留一本书”的书箱。

在美国，公共图书馆的数量比麦当劳还多。在美国境外，设在152个国家的700多个地点的“美国资料中心”(American Spaces)能提供类似于图书馆的环境。人们在那里可以了解美国、练习英语并获得在美国留学的信息。

新型图书馆和传统图书馆的共同之处都是提高社区参与程度，并丰富社区生活。也许你早就应该去图书馆看看了。 

Forget all you thought you knew about libraries

The image of dusty stacks and somber scholarship doesn’t quite fit what’s happening in many libraries these days.

Libraries still lend books and provide Internet access, of course, but many also are tapping into the latest technologies and exercise crazes.

In California, librarian Jessica Zaker leads a punk rock aerobics class at her Sacramento public library branch. Elsewhere in the building, her colleague Lori Easterwood runs a program showing patrons how to bring designs they’ve made on computers to life with state-of-the-art 3-D printers.

Troy University in Alabama installed exercise bikes with laptop tables in its library so students can get get their bodies moving along with their minds.

Libraries also can play important roles as community centers, where groups can gather for children’s programs, English-language learning and community organizing.

A Wisconsin entrepreneur started the Little Free Library movement, which has put 6,000 “take a book, leave a book” boxes in communities in all 50 states and 40 countries besides.

The U.S is home to more public libraries than McDonald’s restaurants. Outside the U.S., library-like environments are available in more than 700 locations across 152 countries inAmerican Spaces. Visitors there can learn about the U.S., practice English and get information about studying in the U.S.

The common thread in these and the more familiar versions of the library is engaging and enriching a community. Could be you’re long overdue to check one out.