The Emelie
Exterior of building
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| Type | Library |
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| Location | Indianapolis, Indiana |
| Coordinates | 39°46′22″N 86°09′48″W / 39.772658°N 86.163471°WCoordinates: 39°46′22″N 86°09′48″W / 39.772658°N 86.163471°W |
| Other information | |
| Director | Julia Whitehead. Executive Director and Library Founder |
| Website | |
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The Emelie
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Front view of the Emelie
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| Location | 326–330 N. Senate Ave. and 301–303 W. Vermont St., Indianapolis, Indiana |
| Coordinates | 39°46′21″N 86°9′48″W / 39.77250°N 86.16333°W |
| Area | less than one acre |
| Built | 1902 |
| Architect | Schmid,Frederick |
| Architectural style | Renaissance Revival |
| MPS | Apartments and Flats of Downtown Indianapolis TR |
| NRHP Reference # | 83000068 |
| Added to NRHP | September 15, 1983 |
 Kurt Vonnegut Memorial Library Dec 17, 2010, C-SPAN, 16:39 |
The Kurt Vonnegut Memorial Library is dedicated to championing the literary, artistic and cultural contributions of the late writer, artist and Indianapolis native Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.. It opened in January 2011 and is located in the Emelie Building, a structure on the National Register of Historical Places at 340 N. Senate Avenue in Indianapolis, Indiana. The library serves as a cultural and educational resource facility, museum, art gallery and reading room. It supports language and visual arts education through programs and outreach activities with other local arts organizations to foster a strong arts network for both the local and national community.
One of the goals for the Kurt Vonnegut Memorial Library is to help tourism to Indianapolis. Tourism officials from the city look at the library as a new attraction and reason for people to visit. The library is one of several efforts supported by the city and institutions such as the Lilly Endowment and Ball State University to expand the city’s cultural activities, alongside the Indianapolis Museum of Art and The Children's Museum of Indianapolis. The Lilly Endowment Inc. granted the library a $50,000 grant and the funds will be used, in part, to provide for a citywide festival planned for 2013.
Ball State University along with partner contributors granted the library $76,710 to digitize rare archival material and make the content more accessible to the general public via a digital display. The work involved with opening the museum was made possible by volunteers.
Highlighted attractions of the library include a museum, art gallery and reading room. The museum features rare remnants from Vonnegut’s life, including the author’s Purple Heart medal awarded to him for his service in Dresden, Germany during World War II, the author’s Smith-Corona Coronamatic 2200 typewriter, an unopened box of the author’s Pall Mall cigarettes discovered by his children behind a bookcase following his death, an unopened letter sent overseas (in the course of World War II) to the author from his father, a series of rejection letters sent to the author by magazines, and a complete replica of his writing studio. The library’s art gallery displays art by local artists and participates in events in cooperation with the Indianapolis Downtown Artists and Dealers Association such as the monthly “First Friday Gallery Tours.” A small reading room with a selection of books by Vonnegut sits in the corner of the library. On the wall of the reading room is a quote by the author: “We are what we pretend to be so we must be careful what we pretend to be.”
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Wikipedia