The Langley City Council unanimously approved an agreement that finalized the city’s annexation into the Sno-Isle Library District at the council’s meeting on Monday.

The annexation takes effect in January, and under the contract, the city will continue to own the library building and to maintain the facility and grounds. Sno-Isle will provide all staffing of the library, plus books, equipment and furnishings.

Mayor Paul Samuelson praised Langley voters for approving the annexation in November, which passed with a 79 percent “yes” vote.

“This has been long, long overdue,” Samuelson said.

“I am enormously grateful to the community for taking responsibility for the library services, for the council for helping us move that forward, and for everybody who worked with us at a time when it would be normally impossible to pass something like this,” he said.

“This community cares about its library,” Samuelson said.

Sno-Isle Libraries Director Jonalyn Woolf-Ivory said the annexation stabilizes funding for the library and would help the city financially.

“That’s really important for your citizens to know, that there will continue to be a library in Langley,” she said.