Sunday closure at Central Library

We need to close on Sundays to maintain a high-quality service Monday to Saturday within our current staffing levels and budgets.

It is not possible for us to run a 7-day service with our current staffing levels.

Saturdays have increasingly become the library's busiest day, and customer needs have shifted toward digital and support services, which require more staff time.

Redirecting staff from Sundays to Saturdays helps us meet these demands.

Council must keep rates affordable for ratepayers. Increasing staffing without raising rates isn't possible under current budgets.

Yes, for now. It may change if future budgets and staffing allow.

You can provide feedback on this change via our online feedback form.

Central Library Sunday hours feedback

Paper feedback forms are also available from the library front desk.

If you can't visit us between Monday through to Saturday, you can use our online services: catalogue, renewals, eBooks and eAudiobooks.

No. Core services continue Monday through to Saturday. We're focusing resources to provide a quality experience six days a week.

Around 300 customers on average.

Statistics for the Central Library taken from July to September 2025 indicate an average visitor count for Sunday (379) compared with Saturday (689) and weekdays (1196). Note: these figures are just for the Central Library and do not include visitor counts for Kamo, Onerahi, Tikipunga and the Mobile Library. 

A comparison with New Zealand libraries in similar-sized districts shows that we have the lowest number of staff relative to the population we serve.

It reflects operational realities (staffing, budgets, employment regulations) and our commitment to quality service and staff wellbeing.

You can provide feedback on this change via our online feedback form.

Central Library Sunday hours feedback

Paper feedback forms are also available from the library front desk.

Feedback will be presented to Councillors for their consideration.