THE stylish chairs would not look out of place in a designer clothes shop, while the fashionable sofas with integrated laptop power points could be found in a swish hotel lobby.

And the wall of double-height windows with laptop breakfast bar are enough to make a multinational coffee company green with envy.

If this is the future of libraries, then the city's grand old dame, the Mitchell Library, is at the cutting edge after its £2.75million facelift.

The 20-month refurbishment has transformed the ground floor of Europe's largest public reference library into an open plan, flexible, contemporary facility.

Walls that divided the former Kent Road entrance and the Moir Hall have gone, and the bustling open plan space now has a community library, a cafe, a bank of 50 flat-screen PCs, lounge areas and conference facilities.

Karen Cunningham, head of Glasgow libraries, says: "It's incredible. Have a look around and you see how busy it is.

"The number of people using the library in the last few days has shot up. The changes are having a positive impact."

Visitors to the library now enter via the newly-illuminated Granville Street - replacing the dark interior of old with a brighter feel - or via the imposing domed entrance on North Street.

The former Kent Road reception area has become the community library, re-branded the "Leisure and Lifestyle" section, where a full range of events will be held. It is home to a children's area, with colourful bean bags and child-sized chairs, and copies of titles recommended in the Evening Times' Get Glasgow Reading child literacy initiative.

The library also has traditional collections of books displayed by category, in addition to DVDs, CDs, travel books, magazines and biographies.

The mushroom carpet leads through to the 400-seat Mitchell Theatre (soon to be revamped with new seats and audio-visual equipment), adjacent to which are the conference facilities.

Positioned on the site of the former cafeteria, three "break-out" conference rooms available for hire - capable of holding around 30 people - can be partitioned off from the main area, each having plasma TVs with "Smart Board" overlays.

PLANS are also in place to put four plasma screens at the entrance to the Mitchell Theatre, showing a news channel or live broadcasts of performances in the theatre.

The main hub of the revamped Mitchell is the cafe and PC bank, both already very popular despite opening only last Friday.

Users busily tap away at the PCs, which are reserved without charge at the Granville Street reception desk, while laptop users take advantage of the wireless "wi-fi" internet access, some positioned on the trendy island chairs, others at the breakfast bar-type seats at the long windows.

The hum is interrupted by an impromptu "Happy Birthday" singalong for one of the staff of Encore, the company that runs the cafe.

"We do CDs, DVDs and birthday parties," jokes Councillor John Lynch, the council's convener of Cultural and Leisure Services.

"Most people remember their old visits to libraries, the rather forbidding presence of staff and the quiet please' boards, which are now consigned to our museums. Libraries are giving a welcoming atmosphere for people coming in."

The cafe menu has much in common with a city centre bistro, with a range of refreshments - alcoholic and soft drinks, sandwiches, inventive main courses and pastries.

Agnes Russell, of St George's Cross, was visiting for a second time in four days, showing off the Mitchell's wares to son Jim, who lives in London, and daughter Pauline.

Agnes said: "It's wonderful. It's nice and airy - a lovely place to come and sit. Most book stores have done this so it's a nice idea to come in and get a coffee."

lThere are public tours of the library today at 2pm; on February 22 at 6pm; March 6 at 2pm; and March 29 at 6pm.