Want to curl up next to the fireplace with a good book?

Beginning in April, patrons will be able to do just that at the new, $26.3 million Manhattan Beach Library in the city’s Civic Center.

The fireplace will be among the key features of the new two story, 21,000-square-foot facility, which will offer several new amenities along with sweeping views of the ocean.

“I believe the residents of Manhattan Beach are going to be very pleased,” said Los Angeles County Librarian Margaret Todd. “The upstairs area will have wonderful views of the ocean and the city of Manhattan Beach.

“I think patrons are going to enjoy the fireplace area that has been designed to be inviting to those who want to curl up by the fire and enjoy a good book on a rainy day.”

Construction on the new library at 1320 Highland Ave. started in September 2013 and is expected to be completed in early spring. It replaces the former one-story county library that opened in 1975 and was subsequently razed. A Culver City firm was paid $1.2 million to design the new facility, which makes generous use of floor-to-ceiling windows.

Among the new amenities will be an interactive children’s area, a teen study and an automatic book-sorting machine, the first in the Los Angeles County Library system.

The new sorter eliminates the need to handle that task by hand, Todd said.

Patrons will drop books in what looks like an ATM and then enter information on a keypad. Books will disappear into the belly of the library on a 4-foot conveyor belt, all shown on an ultra-HD screen.

The books will pass through a laser scanner, which checks them back in by reading a bar code on the back cover. This allows the sorter to communicate with the library’s computer system to determine which of the five bins the books are bound for.

Two bins collect books belonging to the Manhattan Beach branch, one holds books for other branches and another gathers books on a request list, said Migell Acosta, chief information officer for the L.A. County Library system.

Priced at $317,000, the automatic sorter will increase efficiency and free up staff to help patrons.

“The advantage to the patrons is books can be checked in instantly,” Acosta said. “So, if you have reached your item limit, you can instantly return some in order to check out more. It will be located in the lobby and will be available during library hours. There will be a traditional book-drop outside for after-hours returns.”

In years to come, Acosta said, more of the sorters will pop up across the county system.

“We are excited that this will be the first of its kind in the library system,” Todd said. “Also, the children’s interactive area that we’ve established will also be the first of its kind in our system.”

The children’s area will function as a miniature museum with a nautical theme. Children will be able to interact with computer programs and hands-on learning material in the designated area.

“I also believe the teens of Manhattan Beach will really like the teen study area that we have added,” Todd said. “There will be plenty of computers, laptop ports and stations, and other resources for them to take advantage of.”

Also planned for the new library are group study and tutoring rooms, a 100-seat community meeting room and express-service checkout machines in the lobby.