SOUTHBURY - As Ed Edelson led donors around the new Southbury Public Library on Saturday afternoon, he wished he could grab a book and curl up in one of the big, upholstered chairs.

Instead, the owner of Cornucopia at Oldfield Bed and Breakfast made mental notes of the biographies and new releases he wants to check out when the library opens Monday.

"It's got that warm feeling to it," said Edelson, who volunteered at a pre-opening reception sponsored by the Southbury Business Association. "I don't know if it's the color or the light."

After eight years of planning, two years of building and a monthlong shutdown to move more than 90,000 volumes across town, library staffers will open their new quarters. Borrowers can get a sneak preview at an open house and ribbon-cutting ceremony today.

"It's just a big occasion for the town," said Michele Zommer, a volunteer with the Southbury Newcomers and Neighbors Club that created a map of the pedestrian brick walkway. "This is the place to be in Southbury this year."

The more than $6 million library at Old Field and Poverty roads is the first new town construction in 30 years. It's 32,000 square feet include an art gallery, meeting rooms and a studio for recording books for the blind.

The main corridor features cherry-wood bookshelves, tables with old-fashioned brass lamps and large windows streaming with light. It leads to a two-story quiet reading room with shelves of newspapers and magazines and a gas fireplace.

There is also a reading atrium with large upholstered chairs and several reading nooks. One corner features a cluster of computers and another prominently displayed new releases and audio books.

"We sort of liken this to the Walden's Book Store," Shirley Michaels, chairman of the library board, said of the new releases area.

The second floor is dedicated to children, with teen and preschool areas, a study section and craft and storytime rooms. The latter has toys and several child-sized gray tables surrounded by blue chairs.

"It's an amazing facility," said Kelly Gratzl, a first-grade teacher in Bridgeport, whose family donated a children's room in memory of her grandfather, George A. Tomey of the Southbury Food Center. "I wish we had it when I was little."

Some shelves remain empty and stacks are four feet apart to allow for wheelchair accessibility and future additions. The whole building is wired for Internet and there is a coffee bar below the stairway.

"When we started, we were building the library of the future," said First Selectman Mark A. R. Cooper. "It's not just books on shelves."

On Saturday, his sons, Brandon and Justin, were exploring the library's nooks and figuring out what they would check out next week. Brandon, 13, said he'd probably hang out in the teen area upstairs.

"It's so big you could get lost in this place," he said. "The children's area's the size of the old library."

If you go

A ribbon-cutting ceremony will be held at noon today at the Southbury Public Library, 100 Poverty Road. An open house will follow featuring:

A photographic art exhibit by Georgia Sheron entitled "Uncle John," a retrospective of black-and-white photographs of local farmer John Ludorf.

A video display created by resident Peirce Behrendt, who took more than 900 photos documenting the construction of the library.

A display of floral arrangements prepared by members of the Southbury Garden Club

A map of the pedestrian brick walkway created by the Southbury Newcomers and Neighbors Club.