A computer vision software library is a key component of vision-based applications. While there are several existing libraries, most are large and comple or limited to a particular hardware/platform combination. These factors tend to impede the development of research applications, especially for non-computer vision experts. To address this issue, we have developed TLIB, an easy-to-learn, easy-to-use software library that provides a complete set of real-time computer vision functions, including image acquisition, 2D/3D image processing, and visualization. In this paper, we present the motivation for TLIB and its design. We then summarize some of the applications that have been developed with TLIB, and discuss directions for future work.