AUBURN – The newest storefront in the Auburn Mall is generating interest.

Shoppers and mall walkers alike have been very interested in Auburn Public Library’s new home, the former Express space in the northern end of the mall, staffers said Thursday.

People stop by, noses pressed to the window, looking at the books and computers that fill the 7,500-square-foot retail space.

“They say it looks very inviting,” said children’s librarian Pam Osborn. “They like it a lot, and I think they’re eager to get in.”

The library reopens officially when the gate goes up at 9 a.m. Monday. Daily hours will be the same as the downtown library – 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Library Director Rosemary Waltos said her staff finished setting up the new library Thursday afternoon, reserving Friday for last-minute details such as cleaning tabletops, making final adjustments and hanging the last pieces of artwork.

A return box destined to sit at the mall entrance by McDonald’s was still packed in cardboard at the back of the library. That needs to be bolted into place by Monday, as well.

The front of the store is home to a seating area and new fiction. The children’s section is just left of the entrance. The stacks are straight ahead, with public computers in a small space to the left and magazines along the wall to the right.

“It’s more wide open and inviting,” Waltos said. “The stacks are right there, and they practically say, Check me out.'”

The stacks fill the middle of the store, where shoppers might have browsed for dresses and blouses. Six changing rooms were converted into three cubbyhole offices for section librarians.

“Everything is so wide open here, you need to have some private space to do your work, like book orders,” Waltos said.

Not everything is here. Of the library’s 70,000 volumes, 20 percent have been put in storage until the new downtown library opens. Osborn said she stored many duplicates and less-popular books.

“We just don’t have the space here, and you have to make choices,” she said.

Waltos and the library’s board of directors will open the library at 49 Spring St. one more time, beginning at 5 p.m. Monday. It’s empty now, and interior work is scheduled to begin July 19.

“You get a different perspective of the building itself when you look at it without all the books and without all the shelves,” she said.

Construction is scheduled to take 16 months, meaning Waltos and her staff will move back in around December 2005.

The renovated library will have more space, with classrooms and meeting rooms, she said. “So, I think we’ll miss this when we leave, but we’ll like our new space much more.”

Waltos said she planned to spend at least part of Friday going from store to store in the mall, meeting her new neighbors.

“Most of my staff has already started meeting people,” she said.

One neighbor, Waldenbooks manager Matthew Said, is looking forward to the library. He’s not worried about potential customers just walking across the hall to get free books.

“I don’t think it’ll interfere with our business,” he said.

Waltos agreed. Libraries and bookstores make good neighbors, she said, especially if people are looking for the latest best seller.

“We’ll be glad to loan it to you, but you might have to wait seven weeks or so,” she said. “Or, you can walk over there and buy your own copy.”