With all the talk in recent years about plans, concepts and ideas for a Sammamish Town Center of the future, next week the city will unveil what is a crucial, and tangible, first piece.

When the Sammamish Branch of the King County Public Library opens its doors on Jan. 9., the people of the Plateau will welcome into their growing city a building which is not only a vital resource but one that its designers hope will become a place of congregation and community.

And what a beauty it is.

With a team of King County Library Service workers still stocking the shelves and putting up signage, sleeves rolled up and looking more like removalists than librarians, The Reporter met with Sammamish branch manager Robbin Gaebler a few days before Christmas for a sneak peak at the new library.

The last time The Reporter was at this site, having a look around with Construction Manager Bob Carns, the building was just a shell.

Heralded for its use of green building technology and cutting edge design, the new library is an example of why the King County Library Service is known far and wide as one of the most progressive and well-supported in the nation.

The first thing you notice is the space.

Though the new branch is almost twice the size of the old branch (19,000 square feet v 10,000 square feet), it seems even bigger than that. The high ceiling and enormous windows open the place up. It feels like a town square with a roof, an idea that Gaebler is very excited about.

“Of all the things that are great about this new library, I really love the idea of ‘The Commons,'” she said. We are standing in the children’s reading area, looking at the spacious window seats, and the skate park, climbing wall and basketball courts outside. “We have all these civic things together. In this location, it really feels like we are part of the community.”

In addition to the skate park, climbing wall and basketball courts, the library now joins a cluster that includes Sammamish City Hall, two churches, a preschool and Skyline High School, all within a radius of a few hundred yards.

“I like this because a mother, for example, could say ‘I can watch my kid out in the skate park while I read to my other one in here.'”

To the east is the green expanse of the Sammamish commons.

“The staff are very happy, because now they can take their lunch hour and go for a walk down there, have their lunch on the grass,” Gaebler said.

That number will include five new hires to add to the existing staff of 24.

As someone who has worked for library systems in a number of different states, Gaebler knows how fortunate King County residents are.

“I’ve wanted to work here since I became a librarian,” she said. “It’s the pre-eminant library system in the country. It’s known as being trendsetting, avant-garde, for its use of automated technology, its staffing models.”

One of the reasons King County libraries are able to provide such good service is because of its secure funding model – branches don’t rely on the political whims of city and county governments, but are their own taxing district.

The new library will hold an additional 13,000 new items. The decision on what new items to include reflects borrowing trends, and so there will be more of the popular items such as CDs and DVDs, picture books for the 0 – 5 age group, beginner readers and young adult audiobooks. It took the team of more than 30 library workers two and half long days to move everything from the old site to the new.

Other features of the new library include a larger meeting room, which can hold more than 100 people, as well as two study or conference rooms for up to 10 people each. There is also a designated quiet study area.

It is hard not to be drawn to the large open space at the rear of the library, which features floor to ceiling windows which, on a clear day, offer the astonishing views of Seattle and the Olympic Mountains currently enjoyed by those lucky enough to have a top story, east-facing office at City Hall. It reminds one of the wall of windows in the food court at Sea-Tac airport.

That space includes a fire place similar to the one at Blakely Hall in the Issaquah Highlands, as well as a row of lounge-style chairs and footrests. As far as reading rooms go, this one will be hard to beat.

Along one wall is a long bench, with bar-style seating, which Gaebler hopes will become a teen reading and study area.

Gaebler said the county was fortunate to launch the project when it did – the depressed economy meant that bids came in low for the project.

“Because of that we were able to save a bit of money, which meant we were able to provide for everything we wanted, all those little extras,” she said. The benches and tables are made out of reclaimed, old growth wood – the amenities are stylish. “Maybe if we hadn’t saved money on the bid, these benches might have been formica.”

As it is, the Sammamish library is a gem, a jewel in a Town Center that city planners hope will one day be a crown.

A ribbon-cutting celebration and open house will be held at the new library at 10 a.m., Saturday, Jan 9.

After the ribbon-cutting ceremony, the public is invited inside to tour the new library and enjoy refreshments and musical programs.