Under the new structure, from July 1 there will be 926 permanent full and part-time positions, supplemented by a small pool of casual staff, Edmundson said.
The difference of 194 was made up of 74 voluntary redundancies last year, and natural attrition, she said.
Employee numbers in February were at 878 permanent and 143 casuals.
"There are enough roles for people to go in ... I'm really pleased that the process of attrition has put us in that positive place."
About 80 per cent of staff will have to apply for newly created roles, but the process will be internal and "application light".
Staff will work in library clusters, broken down by local board boundaries. Part-time roles will be a minimum of 32 hour a fortnight, so staff can "train, develop and be engaged".
Staff numbers will also increase at peak use times, such as weekends, under the changes, Edmundson said.
It was also important staff had the skills to meet the changing needs of users, especially in the digital sphere, Edmundson said.
"This is about being ready for change ... it's changes of behaviour that are leading this."
The New Zealand Public Service Association national secretary Glenn Barclay said the restructure would be disruptive for staff, and make it challenging to maintain existing services.
"We are heartened there will be no further job losses, but the majority of our members will face significant change.
"Library staff will now be based across a local board area rather than a single library, which some members are concerned could lead to a loss of local knowledge.":
The union welcomed the "broad and innovative thinking" in the Fit for the Future proposals, including the enhanced digital services and the increased commitment to Maori.
But it was unfortunate cost-cutting was a driver of many of the changes, he said.
Three protesters from the Love Our Libraries' lobby group waved signs outside Auckland Council's Albert St headquarters as the decision was announced.
Leader Julia Schiller said change should have started at the community level.
"Instead we've had this top down squeeze. We've had 74 people, not FTEs [fulltime equivalents], people, who have taken redundancy and [then] further insulted by being told they don't want to be part of the future.
"Well we want a future with librarians as they are now - part of their community, trusted, loved and serving."
