Tuesday, 13 February 2018

Most Upper Hutt library services restored during building closure

Upper Hutt City Libraries staff have been busy creating alternative means to deliver services to customers while the Central Library building remains closed.

UPPER HUTT, Wellington NZ, 13 FEB 2018—Since the closure of Upper Hutt Central Library building on 7 February, the libraries management team have been putting into place immediate access to vital services as well as exploring solutions for the longer term.

To ensure that customers don’t have to worry about their Library returns and fees, all borrowed items have been extended, currently to 10 March.

Pinehaven Library

Pinehaven Library hours have been extended. We’re issuing books and accepting returns there.

• Monday – Friday: 9.30 am – 4.30 pm

• Saturday – Sunday: 10.00 am – 4.00 pm

Mobile Library

The Mobile Library Bus has been rescheduled to be available behind the Central Library building for issues and returns on weekday afternoons.

• Monday – Friday: 12.30 – 5.00 pm

The Mobile Library continues to visit schools on weekday mornings, from 9.00 – 11.00 am. As well as providing invaluable services to schoolchildren, these stops are also open to parents and the public. The temporary Mobile Library map is available at: www.upperhuttlibrary.co.nz/mobile

Holds

After it was confirmed that we could access the inside of the building at least once a week (with the necessary safety precautions) we waived the usual $1 hold charge and have been encouraging people to use the online catalogue to place holds on books and other materials at upperhuttlibrary.co.nz. Holds will be collected on a weekly basis and made available to users through the Mobile and Pinehaven Libraries.

Outside business hours

To provide access to everyone, regardless of time commitments, we have ordered a 24-hour returns bin to be placed outside the Central Library Building. We are expecting it to arrive before 10 March, but if it doesn’t we’ll extend borrowed items accordingly. For those active library users outside of Upper Hutt, Hutt City Libraries have kindly agreed to allow Upper Hutt City Libraries members to use their services. We are currently talking with Wellington City Libraries about making similar arrangements.

Services, programmes, and venues

We’ve rescheduled our programmes and Hot Seats to take place in alternative venues such as the HAPAI building, and nearly all of our regular programmes will be available again next week. We will be able to confirm times and locations later this week. The Hot Seats, Justice of the Peace, and Community Law services, have been confirmed for next week. Please refer to our website, upperhuttlibrary.co.nz for details.

Staff

As well as reinstating services and informing the public, we have also been able to redeploy and inform all permanent staff. This week every Library staff member has been rostered back to work in some capacity, ensuring that our Library team remains as strong and informed as ever, and ready to continue increasing our service delivery capacity.

Longer-term preparation

We’re still unsure of the extent of remedial work that may need to take place at the Central Library. In preparation for this, we’ve been looking at alternative buildings in the city centre that might be suitable as a temporary library (also known as a pop-up library).

ends

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