DAPHNE, Ala. — The Daphne Public Library spent a $1 million bond issue to add multiple service areas and a 16-desk computer lab to the facility—and the city plans to show it off during Thursday’s open house from 5 to 7 p.m.

The event will feature tours, computer-class suggestions and the opportunity to buy raffle tickets for two quilts donated by the Eastern Shore Quilt Guild.

The computer lab will have printers, scanners and photocopiers in addition to a retractable screen and television, according to Tonja Young, library director. The television will be used for major events such as presidential elections and space exploration.

“We’re all so lucky—we don’t think about how some people don’t have a TV,” she said. “Plus, some events are best experienced in a group setting.”

Computer classes will be held in the lab and will range from beginning to advanced levels, she said.

“We’ll begin with what a mouse is and move all the way to (Microsoft) Excel, Adobe (Acrobat Reader), AVL (Alabama Virtual Library) and eBay,” she said.

“Non-profit groups and city departments will also be able to use the room for training.”

When classes aren’t in session, it will be an overflow area for Internet access.

The lab will be open for tours all night, she said.

Also Thursday, guests will be shown behind-the-scenes areas such as recycle, storage and book-sorting and repair locations during tours at 5:30 and 6:30 p.m., she said.

Young worked extensively with architects to determine the shape and number of rooms to best fit the library’s needs, she said.

The addition features a ground-level cataloguing area with three sitting-desk and three standing-work locations including sinks needed during gluing and book repairs; the room also has file cabinets, locking storage areas, a wheelchair-accessible rest room, access to a drive-up book drop and a drive-up, large-donation entrance.

The main level holds a new work room for copy supplies, laminating and book sorting, she said.

Beyond the work room, there are two climate-controlled storage rooms for seasonal art work, books and Friends of the Library’s bookstore items that bring in about $25,000 annually for library children’s activities, she said.

Next to the storage area is a server room for electrical and technical equipment; it will also hold manuals, extra parts and security items in the locked room.

“One day, we’ll update to fiber optics and new phone systems,” she said. “The large space will have room for this where our old room (about one-fourth the size) was crowded and often caused equipment overheating.”

The addition has a service-rea elevator and motion-activated lights to save energy along with an emergency exit with a refuge area for wheelchair-users or senior citizens.

The library is located at the corner of U.S. Highway 98 and Whispering Pines Road. For more details call 621-2818.