ORANGE BEACH, Ala. — You can’t judge a book by its cover and the same goes for the Orange Beach Public Library.

While the title “library “suggests a calm and quiet place where books can be found, the Orange Beach library breaks that norm. Vibrant best describes the facility and laughter and conversation is what you’ll hear as you pass through the doors.

“We’re a loud library,” director Bonnie Lee said. “It’s the community’s living room.”

A tour given by reference librarian Maria Baroco shows the library is an interactive experience. A miniature-natural history museum lines the wall of the kids room, full of insects, birds nests and shells, and there’s a full computer room complete with tapping and clicking as people surf the Web.

Baroco explained the library is evolving into its high-tech identity and showed where books-on-tape are fading out and books-on-CD begin to fill the shelves. It was the first library in the state to offer wireless Internet.

A busy entity, the library has seen almost 1,000 people in one day. Lee said the library’s most used month is February when the snowbird population is at its highest.

This month the library will be hosting a lot of exciting literary events, especially with the celebration of the book “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee.

March has been designated Mockingbird Month in Orange Beach and Pensacola and the Orange Beach library will be hosting a discussion and movie night for the West Florida Literacy Federation. On Tuesday, March 10 at 3 p.m. the library will hold a discussion of the book.

On March 19 at 5:15 p.m. enthusiasts can watch the movie adaptation of “To Kill a Mockingbird”

Tomorrow at 6 p.m. local author Sonny Brewer will discuss his book “A Sound Like Thunder.”

On March 26 at 6 p.m. long-time Pleasure Island resident Earl Callaway will give a lecture on the history of Orange Beach.

Even with the 35 percent budget decrease the library saw during the city’s cuts last year, Lee said people will see the same service and programs as always. The biggest affect the budget cut will have is the library’s inability to purchase new materials.

But with every problem there is an answer and the library has introduced the “Adopt an Author” program. For $20, the library will purchase a desired book for a reader, who is guaranteed to be the first to read it.

With the economic woes that have taken over, the library is a completely free outlet of entertainment.

“The library is such a bargain,” Lee said.

There are 44,000 titles in stock, DVDs, CDs, free Internet access and constant events — all at no charge. Those with a library card can now download audio books from Alabama’s digital library Camellia Net which can be found on the library’s Web site.

The Orange Beach library was recently featured in the Feb. 15 edition of the Library Journal. The library, which operates on about $400,000 a year, was peered with metropolitan libraries that spend millions on operation.

Answers provided by Lee and her staff were used throughout the piece that subjected the Library Journal’s new Index of Public Library Service, of which the Orange Beach library is using.

Residents can take part in supporting the library through the Friends of the Library organization. For a minimal fee, people can lend help monetarily or they can take an active role by volunteering time and work.

Information about the library and all of its events can be found at orangebeachlibrary.org.