Eden Prairie Library

The 40,000 square foot building houses a collection of 150,000 items, an automated materials handling system (AMH) for check in and rough sortation of materials, 82 public computers, two meeting rooms, a reading lounge with fireplace, a teen area, a children's area with a Family Reading Lounge, and several installations of artwork.

[1] At the time of its opening in 2004, the Eden Prairie Library was the first public building in Minnesota to incorporate a hydrogen fuel cell to produce electricity (see below).

[5] Hennepin County Library saw the need for a larger facility in the community, and a new location became available one block away in a former Lund's grocery store space.

The fuel cell project was funded by the Minnesota State Office of Environmental Assistance with additional support from CenterPoint Energy and 3M, and was incorporated into the building as a demonstration project of the county's “Green Building and Energy Conservation Initiatives.” Five kilowatts of electricity could be produced by the library's fuel cell, enough to power a typical home.

The Eden Prairie Library installations of public artwork funded by the One Percent for Art program,[10] include: