Many of the exhibits greet visitors with smells and sounds that enhance the experience. Feel the cool air of the lettuce boxcar in East of Eden . Smell the fish and hear the seagulls squawk along Cannery Row . The center houses a museum resource room The Art of Writing . It promotes the exploration of Steinbeck's art, life and themes.
Visitors can access information from CD-ROM equipped computer stations.
A separate academic research library is available to scholars. Plans call for the addition of a second wing to the center in 1999. It would house the Salinas Valley Agricultural History and Education Center.