Holiday opening hours for Auckland libraries confirmed

The Avondale Library. Photo / Brett Phibbs

Auckland's local boards have confirmed which libraries will be open during the four days between Christmas and New Year.

All 55 libraries across the Auckland Council network will operate until closing at the regular time on Christmas Eve and resume normal hours from Wednesday, January 4.

However, due to lower demand for library services between the Christmas and New Year period, the region's 21 Local Boards have decided that 15 libraries will close for the four days between Christmas and New Year.

The 15 libraries are: Avondale, Blockhouse Bay, Clendon, Glenfield, Helensville, Kumeu, Mahurangi East, Manurewa, Northcote, Ōtara, Panmure, Ranui, Te Atatu Peninsula, Waiuku and Wellsford.

Three further libraries will also partially close during that period - Panmure on December 28 and 29, Glen Innes on December 30 and 31, and Albany on December 31.

Botany library will be open throughout the holidays with hours aligned to the Botany Town Centre shopping centre hours; it will only be closed on Christmas Day.

Ōtāhuhu, Devonport and Waiheke libraries will be open with extended hours so that Ōtāhuhu's hours align with the recreation and leisure centre and Devonport and Waiheke can accommodate the summer influx of library members.

Library members will continue to have 24/7 digital access to e-books, e-audio books, e-resources, e-magazines and newspapers through the website.

Collection loans over this period have been extended to provide further flexibility and enable library members to keep items on loan for a longer period.

Library items can still be returned to closed libraries through after-hours slots.

For more information, visit aucklandlibraries.govt.nz or to view a list of each library's hours, click here.

Clarification:
An earlier version of this story publish today stating that more than 50 Auckland library staff could lose their jobs before Christmas was incorrect as the time frame for consultation has now changed. A council spokeswoman said staff consultation on Auckland Council's Fit for the Future programme has been pushed out from December and is now expected to begin in mid-January. Until that consultation has taken place, the impact on staffing levels will not be known.