WYCOMBE'S new £5.3million state-of-the-art library is expected to open at the same time as Eden - and Free Press readers can now walk through the complex in an updated virtual tour on our website.

The five-minute walk-through of the shopping mecca shows how the 600,000sq ft centre will look when it opens in 2008. Glass fronted shops such as Topshop, Zara, Marks & Spencer, Ernest Jones, Principles and Monsoon can all be seen on the tour.

Meanwhile, plans for the town's new library will go on display in June at the existing centre in Queen Victoria Road.

Proposals for the new library include equipment which lets people check their own books in and out; a teenage bookbar where young readers can flick through magazines and enjoy refreshments; and a one-stop shop where people can find out about other council services.

The new library will be double the size of the current one, which was built in 1932.

Margaret Dewar, cabinet member for culture and learning at Buckinghamshire County Council, said: "This is an opportunity to provide a world-class library and learning facility, as well as a historic moment. The people of High Wycombe will finally, after 30 years of waiting, have the library service they deserve."

The stained glass windows in the current library, which show a man and a woman symbolising literature and poetry, will move to the ground floor of the new building.

Eden contractors, Multiplex, say work is bang on schedule and the shopping centre, complete with a 12-screen cinema and bowling alley will be open on time. The project, along with the library is part of a £500 million regeneration programme planned for the town.