Upper Hutt Central Library building closure—2 March update

Upper Hutt City Council is still able to provide some library services to the community whilst working to establish remedial works required to strengthen the Upper Hutt Central Library building.

UPPER HUTT, Wellington NZ, 02 MAR 2018— Upper Hutt Central Library has now been closed for just over three weeks, and in this time Library management and staff have been able to deliver a range of services along with limited access to our collections.

Mobile Library

The Mobile Library is operating Monday through Friday out in the community from 9.00 – 11.00 am and then behind the Central Library building from 12.30 – 5.00 pm with a late evening on Thursday until 6.30 pm. It is proving to be very popular with an average of 190 people visiting each day.

Pinehaven Library

There is a seven day a week service being offered from the Pinehaven Library, which is now open on Monday through Friday from 9.30 am – 4.30 pm, and on Saturday and Sunday from 10.00 am – 4.00 pm. Numbers indicate that library customers appreciate the additional access to Pinehaven Library with an average of 106 people visiting each day.

In addition to enable customers to access collections from the Central library a free hold service has been implemented until further notice.

Help from Hutt City

Until a pop up library can be established Hutt City Libraries have provided support for our customers by offering free temporary membership for all current Upper Hutt City Library members. There are some limitations on this service. We appreciate this support from our neighbouring Library service.

Programmes and events

We’ve been able to deliver most of our current programmes, including community Hot Seats and children’s programmes. Programmes have been delivered from either the HAPAI building or the Professionals Recreation Hall at Expressions Whirinaki.

Temporary premises and remedial work

A secure external returns bin has been ordered and will be placed behind the Central Library offering a 24 hour returns facility prior to 10 March when the extended loan period ends.

Temporary offices have been taken on Level 6 of the CBD Towers. From Tuesday 6 March, public computing services will be offered from this site as well as a holds pickup, new books information, and online catalogue access.

Council and Upper Hutt City Libraries management are continuing to investigate site options for a temporary ‘pop-up library’ that will be able to offer our library services and access to library resources. A number of options have been identified as potential locations. We are currently working through the process of due diligence around some of these sites, including building/structural reports, legislative building requirements for a public building, services available, fit-out and tidy up costs, etc.

Council have structural engineers, architects, and contractors currently working to assess the seismic strengthening that needs to be carried out on the Central Library building. Until they have completed their analysis an accurate time frame for remedial work is unknown. Council will continue to provide information to the public through all of its communication channels as soon as that information becomes available.

Upper-Hutt-City-Library-programmes.pdf: Library programmes and events at alternative locations

About Upper Hutt City Council

Upper Hutt City Council is the steward and custodian of Upper Hutt City, providing governance, infrastructure, and community services and resources, and promoting opportunity in the city for business, recreation, lifestyle, and leisure. Upper Hutt City is located 30 km north-east of Wellington City (41°07'34" S, 175°04'06" E) and boasts 70% of the region’s parks and reserves, along with state-of-the-art entertainment and leisure facilities.

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