Her enthusiasm came as images and models of the expanded library and gallery were unveiled by the council.

The building will feature a cantilevered first floor containing two galleries that will be separated by a spiral staircase under a skylight.

The library on the ground floor will have bladed designs on Hovell Street windows to deflect afternoon sun.

"This is the design and it is pretty spectacular," Cr Speedie said standing before small scale replicas of the new building.

"We asked for a signature building and we certainly have one.

"This...will take our community forward into future generations."

The design is the product of Wodonga firm JWP Architects which was also behind the Tallangatta community hub that opened in 2016 and includes a library.

The council's launch of the design came a day after it was revealed the city had failed to attract a federal contribution to the project via the latest round of Building Better Regions funding.

Cr Speedie said that was "really disappointing", but she had not given up hope of some money from the Commonwealth.

The federal cash would go towards courtyard and cosmetic improvements, rather than the building which is being bankrolled by $6.2 million from the council and $4 million from the Victorian government, which was announced last September. 

Construction on the new library and gallery, which will be closer to Lawrence Street than the existing edifice, is due to begin in July-August and be completed by late 2020 or early 2021.

Cr Speedie said an announcement was imminent on where a temporary library would operate during the redevelopment.

"We have had a look at a few (sites), but you get challenged by a few things, like weight of books," she said.

"It has to be a concrete floor, there's all sorts of other key criteria that we have to meet, you'll get that in probably the next couple of weeks when we've locked that away.

"We're trying to accommodate as much as we can, including all the community groups who use these spaces….from the kids' morning readings to the historical society to all of those community groups that come down here and have space in here.

"We're absolutely doing our very best to accommodate everybody."

While there will be no replacement gallery during construction, there will be pop-up shows and outreach services occur over that period.

The library and gallery employ 15 staff, including part-time and casual workers.