Oxnard unveils a $10 million library branch today in the city's hardscrabble south neighborhoods a high-tech, futuristic edifice that glows with natural light, cherrywood furnishings and lots of computer terminals.

The South Oxnard Library Branch on Saviers Road has been open under limited hours for more than a month. But today's grand opening at 10 a.m. jump-starting a monthlong centennial celebration of the city's library system marks a milestone for south Oxnard, where patrons, community leaders and city officials beamed over the new facility.

"The actual building far exceeds what it looked like on paper," said Shirley Godwin, chairwoman of the Saviers Road Design Team, a watchdog and advocacy group.

Godwin has visited the branch several times but still hasn't checked out a thing.

"I've just been walking around in awe," said Godwin, whose group is better known for criticizing the city than praising it. "Each time, we see more than we saw the first time."

The new branch replaces an older one next door inside a city community center. At 23,000 square feet, the new branch is nearly six times the size of its predecessor. It offers 80,000 books, half of them new. The branch also stocks nearly 50 periodicals and scores of DVDs and books-on-tape selections.

Seventy-five computer terminals with Internet access are sprinkled throughout the building, including 31 in a homework center where students can network with tutors in cyberspace.

The high-tech experience, however, extends beyond Internet access. Customers check out materials by scanning books and library cards like self-serve cashiers in supermarkets. Visitors return borrowed materials by placing them on conveyor belts where scanners read microchips implanted in books that direct them to just the right bin for reshelving.

This will reduce carpal tunnel syndrome for librarians, said Barbara Murray, the city's library director. The city is using the technology as a pilot project with hopes of installing it at its other branches in downtown and La Colonia neighborhood.

A large skylight, set inside the angular roof, bathes a central browsing section with natural light. Bookcases surround the area, which features comfortable armchairs, coffee tables, and new books and magazines. Stacks of shelves ring the browsing section, each lit by a fluorescent lamp.

"We want to make sure that people can read what's on the bottom shelf," Murray said earlier this week on a tour of the facility.

Smaller rooms for quiet study several for kids, one for teens line the outer walls. A balcony area features Spanish-language materials.

Murray didn't publicize the branch's "soft opening" on March 6, but word of mouth spread fast, and the facility has been packed every day.

"To see how many people are here without advertising speaks to the need," Murray said.

As Murray attended to details on Monday, children played video games or looked up NBA stars on the Internet, while parents combed shelves for favorite reads.

"They've done an excellent job," said Debby Chiorino, a Port Hueneme mother who home schools a 12-year-old boy and 9-year-old girl.

Libraries figure big for Chiorino, who supplements her stock of textbooks at home with research at the branch. "It's well laid out; you can think," said Chiorino, who had frequented the old branch once a week for 20 years but found it claustrophobic.

In a recent interview, City Manager Ed Sotelo said that opening a library branch in south Oxnard has been a goal ever since he began work in 1998. From the start, the city had eyed the parcel on the southeast corner of Saviers and Bard roads, a former gas station next to the community center. City officials negotiated with property owner Chevron, which sold the parcel at a reduced price, Murray said. Funding was a hurdle, but the city combined state and city tax dollars and more than $600,000 in private donations for the work. Construction began in April 2005.

While applying for state grants, Murray and other city officials held community meetings with neighborhood leaders, including Godwin's group, for input.

"They wanted access to Internet, quiet places to study and homework assistance," Murray said. "The community is just so excited about it. I'm really proud that we were able to provide something outstanding that will contribute to lifelong learning."