Across First Street from the Esplanade sits the city's main library — a clean, modern building with broad windows looking out to the river valley. It is more interesting than most municipal libraries: there is a notable local-history reading room on the second floor with prairie photographs and books on Medicine Hat's industrial past, and the building hosts free events most weeks.
For a traveller, the appeal is practical — free wifi, comfortable seating, restrooms, and a quiet space to plan the rest of your route. It is also one of the warmest, most welcoming public spaces in town on a sub-zero winter day.