THE recently completed Ballarat Library refurbishment will make it an even more comfortable and welcoming experience for the more than 900 visitors it has each day.Officially re-opened on Saturday, the upgraded facilities are the result of funds from the Ballarat City Council and a Living Libraries grant from the State Department of Planning and Community Development.A total of $280,000 was spent on the upgrade at the Ballarat Library and the recent refurbishment at the Sebastopol Library.Ballarat Library manager Lesley Morgan said the results were very pleasing."The staff and I are really pleased with the refurbishment, and to be able to provide this facility for the community of Ballarat is really rewarding," Ms Morgan said.Work done to the 15-year-old facility includes a fresh coat of paint, new flooring and an extended children's area.The library has a new architecturally designed circulation desk, and new computer desks and return chutes."The work has made the library a more comfortable and inviting environment, and the new circulation desk is more customer service orientated," Ms Morgan said.She said the new return chutes would be a great asset, as piling returns on the circulation desk, as was done in the past, caused a lot of angst to borrowers and workers alike.City of Ballarat's representative on the Central Highlands Regional Library Corporation board, Mark Harris, said the Ballarat Library "is much more than just a house of books" and has a wide range of services. Included in the weekend celebration was a performance by the Pleasant Street Primary School choir, face painting, a cake cutting, a craft workshop, an Xbox competition for teenagers and library tours.