According to the New York Times, the Kurt Vonnegut Memorial Library opened its doors for the first time in downtown Indianapolis, his hometown, last November. Until the library was established in Indiana, it had been speculated that his family would set up his memorial on the East Coast, where he spent much of his life. In a speech in Indianapolis in 1986 Vonnegut said, “All my jokes are Indianapolis. All my attitudes are Indianapolis. My adenoids are Indianapolis. If I ever severed myself from Indianapolis, I would be out of business. What people like about me is Indianapolis.”

The library consists mostly of donations from Vonnegut’s children, including a replica of Vonnegut’s writing studio, his typewriter, and an unopened box of Pall Mall cigarettes. The collection also contains samples of his artwork, and the Purple Heart medal given to him after his service in World War II, and some of his rejection letters from publishers, one of which includes an editor’s remark that he did not have time for Vonnegut, that he was not as talented as other writers. There’s even an unopened letter to Kurt from his father. “Knowing my father, it was more just to keep the potential and the mystery,” said Mark Vonnegut, the author’s son.

Kurt Vonnegut died at age 84 in 2007.