THIS IS AN EXCITING time for the members of Local 2083. They are settling into a new building that has been praised from New York to Seattle as the finest library in the country.

Its striking glass-covered walls, crisscrossed by beams, and its deep red second-floor conference-room area are just two features that help set it apart architecturally. Its state-of-the-art free wireless service throughout the building helps it stand out technologically.

“We are thrilled to start work in this place,” says Linda Saunto, Executive Vice President of Local 2083. She said staff moved into the new library from their temporary premises three weeks before it opened in late May. With all the books stacked in the library, staff set about learning the new systems before the doors opened to the public.

“We are looking forward to making the building work for those who use the library,” Saunto adds. After all, she explains, the real test of the new building will come when people use the new systems, some of them automated. But behind it all will be the librarians who will be doing what they always have done — selecting books, cataloguing them and helping people find the ones they need.

True, she adds, they will have new tools at their disposal, but their services will remain basically the same.

Performing them will be employees who have a strong record of public service and whose ties with the union go back 30 years.

Clearly those services are in good hands. At a party held for staff shortly before the building opened to the public, speakers recognized the union members for their role in the library service.

Carrie Tuckwood, President of Local 2083, was one of the featured speakers at the party.

Other speakers included City Librarian Deborah Jacobs and Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels.