The new $20 million public library branch for Mission Hills and Hillcrest , in the works for nearly 20 years, kicked off construction Monday with features that are promised to delight both kids and their families.

When it opens in January 2019, the 14,376-square-foot, Craftsman-style building will include a children’s area akin to the Hobbit houses seen in the “Lord of the Rings” movies and plenty of wood and trellises that will make reading and surfing the Internet a patron’s delight.

“The interior design is actually quite nice,” said project architect Manuel Oncina, one of the region’s most prolific library designers. “It will have some great colors, particularly in the kids and teen areas. In the main reading room, it’s going to have this grand old library feeling.”

The one-story building, with two underground parking levels with 85 spaces, is being constructed on the south side of Washington Street between Front Street and First Avenue — adjacent to Florence Elementary School on the south and seven blocks east of the current, 3,850-square-foot branch, which opened in 1961 and has nine parking spaces.

In the works for decades, the project was delayed by the city’s financial woes and finally made possible by two $5 million grants from the Knox and Hervey families. The remaining $10 million comes from city infrastructure bond funds. The library’s friends support group is raising an additional $3 million.

“Libraries are so much more than books— they’re spaces where families gather, students learn and communities grow,” said Mayor Kevin Faulconer at a ground breaking ceremony.

Oncina, who has designed nine libraries in the county since 1995, adapted the original design from the Mosher Drew Architects firm and is part of a design-build team led by C.W. Driver Companies, the general contractor. Ferguson Pape Baldwin Architects also is part of the design team.

“The new and improved space will add substantial value to the community and will provide enhanced community rooms, gathering spaces and more for local residents, teens and children,” said Richard Freeark, C.W. Driver senior vice president for San Diego.

Oncina said the Hobbit motif reflects the literary work of J.R.R. Tolkien, the British author of “The Hobbit” and “Lord of the Ring” fantasy novels made into hit movies. The Hobbit houses were built into the earth, something not needed for the library, but the round front doors carry over into an arched entrance for the children’s area.

“There’s no fireplace but when you look at the Hobbit house from the exterior, it will give you an idea that it looks like a chimney,” Oncina said.

The 25-foot-high ceiling is relieved by a series of trusses and trellises and a skylight.

“As soon as you enter into the library is a lofty space with detailed trusses,” Oncina said.

The children’s area is on the north side of the building and the teen area, to the south, was enlarged by reducing the size of the circulation desk, he said.

He said fixtures and built-ins mix both Craftsman and contemporary design features and rooftop photovoltaic cells and other elements will make the building to a near-zero energy user.

To ward off vandalism and security issues related to the homeless, Oncina said there will be fences, anti-graffiti coating and other measures in place.

Phyllis Marion, a retired academic library and president of the branch’s friends group, said the $3 million to be raised by the community will go for more books and computers and other technology items, such as 3-D printers that are not usually part of a library budget.

As for the homeless, she said community members expressed some concern.

“That’s certainly a problem in Hillcrest like it is in the entire city, but I can’t say it’s because of this library,” she said. “Libraries are for the community and the homeless are part of the community and somehow we have to deal with the problem,” she said.