The King County Library System expects to begin work within two years on an expansion of the 15,000-square-foot Auburn Library, providing more materials, computers, wireless access and space for children and teens.

Paying for the project will be the $172 million capital bond that King County residents approved in September 2004. The bond already is funding work at many KCLS libraries.

“According to the construction timeline, we have the Auburn project down for 2011, and it will include the 5,000-square-foot expansion of the Auburn Library to include more materials and more computer stuff,” said Brooke Fisher, a KCLS communications specialist.

“There’s a chance work could start a bit earlier, but we are still sticking with the 2011 date. What happens will depend on the progress we make on other projects,” Fisher said.

Before the 2004 bond election and after extensive community outreach, involvement and discussion, KCLS developed its capital improvement plan, which includes enhancements for all KCLS 44 libraries to meet community needs over the next 10 years.

The 15,000-square-foot Auburn Library opened April 19, 2000 and provides expanded resources for the community, including a collection that doubled the size of the old library’s collection. It offers meeting rooms for programs and public use, study-tutor rooms, access to computer and Internet resources and a reading room overlooking the park.

KCLS will post monthly updates, dates for community meetings, preliminary designs, construction photos and more once the project progresses to the design phase at http://www.kcls.org/bond/auburn/.

Fisher said the plan has not been modified at all from what voters approved in 2004.

Auburn residents voted to annex to the Library District in February 1997.