The sculpture, which will stand about 2.5 metres high, cost $40,000 and will be erected at the site on Wednesday.

Melbourne artist Dean Bowen said it had been a long process to create the owl but he was happy with the result.

“It’s all I hoped it would be,” he said.

“It’s got a really good feel about it.

“The owl is a good symbol of wisdom, which suits the library.”

Birds have multiple layers of meaning for Mr Bowen and regularly appear in his art.

“My interest in birds goes back years,” he said.

“It stems from growing up in the country and going out into the bush, then as an adult being aware of birds in the city.

“Birds have been creeping into my pictures and sculptures for the past five or six years.”

Mr Bowen has works on show at the Heide Museum of Modern Art in Melbourne, a sculpture on display in central Canberra and works commissioned for several councils.

The sculpture is 1.8 metres tall and will sit on a 50-centimetre base.