Users of the Whitehorse Public Library after 2012 will know a very different library than what they know now.

At the south end of the Kwanlin Dun Cultural Centre, currently under construction on Kwanlin Dun waterfront land downtown, the new library will be a two-storey structure.

While the main floor will feature the "behind-the-scenes” library services and meeting rooms, what Yukon government officials have labelled a "grand staircase” and elevator will take patrons to the second level, which will serve as the main public area.

The plans were unveiled Tuesday afternoon during an open house at the library on Second Avenue. Officials also celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Yukon's publicly funded libraries.

"It will be a much more useable space,” Julie Ourom, the territory's director of public libraries, told reporters.

Though the new facility will be roughly the same size as the current library, Ourom noted the basement of the current library is mainly used as storage space and isn't accessible to the public.

The new library, on the other hand, will have space available on both floors, leaving more room available for specific programs.

"We know that we don't have enough children's programming; that it would be nice to have ... a children's area where we can do story-time,” Ourom said. "We need a separate youth area so that older kids have somewhere where they can sit.

"We want to have more space for special collections, whether it's multi-lingual material for people with different language skills, literacy, seniors' programs – we want a little bit more specialized area for all of those.”

Officials are still working on just how all of that will be laid out in the new facility along with the challenge of determining what technological and media needs might be there in three years.

"We're in a transition period in terms of audio-visual material,” Ourom said. "We have a large video collection and we'll probably not have very many videos two, three years down the road in the new library.

"I think that's probably a safe prediction to make and whether or not we'll still have DVDs, we don't know what the new format will be.”

On the computer front, there will be a public wi-fi connection available.

"That will help people with their own equipment, which is more and more the case,” she said

"People come with their laptops and their hand-held things – they want to just be able to plug them in, so we're trying to accommodate all of that. And we're still talking three years down the road, so who knows what developments there'll be between now and then to keep up with?”

As Ourom noted when renovations were done to the library in 1992 after the Yukon Archives moved to Yukon College, there was only one computer used by staff.

"We didn't realize what was going to happen with computers; who did in 1992?” she asked.

While the library now has computers available for public use in a separate room, a decision has to be made about whether the public computers in the new library will be placed in a separate area or scattered throughout the facility.

Ideas for how the new library will be laid out will come from discussions among library users, staff and other libraries.

Having the library located in the cultural centre is an "awesome opportunity” for join programming with the first nation, Ourom said.

"They are talking about lots of cultural activities going on and I can see children's programs, adults programs and all sorts of things that would be really fun,” she said.

"We haven't even started to talk about that yet. It's just exciting to be in on the ground level and to know that the building's actually started construction and that we can plan for all these things.”

Bill Webber, who sits on the Kwanlin Dun's committee overseeing the cultural centre, agrees.

"It complements the library and it complements our cultural centre,” he said, noting having the library as an anchor tenant helped make the centre possible for the first nation.

"At one time, we were looking at adding a lot of different office space, but this is more culturally oriented. It's just a fascinating project.”

At the south end of the cultural centre, those visiting the library will have many views of the Yukon River with "a lot of nice, comfortable nooks in there for people to enjoy the library and look out at the river,” Webber said.

"It's going to be a new feature for the City of Whitehorse, really,” he said of the entire building.

Before the unveiling, watched by about 40 people, Community Services Minister Archie Lang addressed the crowd in a prepared speech. He recalled the history of libraries in the territory going back to the reading rooms of the Gold Rush era. In 1959, libraries in the territory began being publicly funded.

In 1966, the Whitehorse Public Library opened in its current location. The move to the Kwanlin Dun Cultural Centre will be a natural fit for programming, he said.

"It's good news. People can look forward to a larger, brighter library in a scenic location. The building will enhance tourism and cultural opportunities on the Whitehorse waterfront.

It will ensure that the waterfront becomes a main attraction and a natural gathering place,” Lang said.

The plan will create opportunities for joint programming with the first nation, said library board chair Hans Ott.

"This will be a positive move for all Yukon public libraries. We will continue to focus on providing welcoming environments and safe, comfortable community meeting places, as well as access to new and traditional resources, skilled help with research and projects, and programs of interest to Yukoners of all ages.”

While the entire 40,000-square-foot cultural centre is expected to cost $22.7 million, Ourom didn't have details on what it will cost to move the library and operate it on a yearly basis.

Those details were not provided in a press release or made available at the open house.

Community Services spokesman Matt King said a lease agreement is still being negotiated. It's expected the territory will pay $7.4 million in capital costs.