City libraries planning opening hour changes
Early start, early finish... the Upper Hutt city library is changing its opening hours.
The central library’s door will open 30 minutes earlier on weekdays, at 9.30am, for a twomonth trial beginning midAugust
It will will also shut half an hour earlier at 6.30pm from Mondays to Thursdays while on Friday it will close at 5.30pm. The 10am to 4pm weekend hours remain.
Meanwhile late night Tuesdays will finish at Pinehaven’s library although twohour sessions on Tuesdays and Thursday mornings will be introduced.
Those altered hours deliver an extra two hours at Pinehaven and one hour less at the central library respectively in public hours.
City library manager Marion Reid said the aim was to get the best result for customers.
Library users will be asked to give their feedback ahead of a final decision on the changes to be made in November.
‘‘We certainly want to be open earlier.
‘‘We’ve done a scan across all the libraries in New Zealand and very few open as late as we do.’’
The early Friday close was also driven by Upper Hutt customer patterns.
‘‘It actually tends to be a bit of a dead zone for us, it’s our quietest night,’’ Reid said.
Changes to the central library lay-out are also planned later in the year.
That will involve a direct swap of the Rotary Lounge and the Children and Teens’ areas.
‘‘The current children’s area is dated. It is lacking vibrancy and is out of sight from the main hub staff area, especially the computer suite.’’
While the Rotary Lounge is a space designed for public events and library programmes it is also used by people wanting to read or study.
‘‘There is a regular conflict between these different customer groups,’’ Reid said.
A location change will allow for these regular events and also provide a separate space for individual library users.
The reorganisation will bring greater flexibility in the children and teens areas and improve our ability to focus on their services, Reid said.
‘‘We will have a light, open space for our staff and our customers and also increased visibility, safety and interconnectedness.’’