Hamilton’s two busiest libraries are reshuffling their opening hours to better suit the city’s library lovers.

The Central and Chartwell branches will open for longer on the weekends, keeping one late night during the week (open until 8.30pm on Thursdays). Both branches will close at 5.30pm on other weeknights.

These new hours will come into effect from Sunday 26 September when daylight savings begins. To find out more and check out the new hours in detail, you can visit here.

Hamilton City Libraries Director Stephen Pennruscoe said these changes have been based on customer surveys and data.

“Customers have told us what opening times best suit them and their whaanau, and we’ve listened. Libraries are a precious resource for our community but we know work, school and other commitments can make it hard to get to a library during the week.”

With the new weekend hours, Central Library will open from 9.30am to 5pm, and Chartwell Library will open from 9.30am to 4.30pm on both Saturday and Sunday. That’s an eight-hour increase on opening hours over the weekend.

Data shows the change could see visits increase by up to 20,000 each year.

“Our data shows that weeknights are a very quiet time for the Central City and Chartwell, while weekends are very popular. By aligning our hours with retail hours, we can make it easier for our customers,” Pennruscoe said. “This way, people can pop into the library after they’ve been to a café for brunch or finished some weekend shopping.”

The reshuffling of hours will not cost more for ratepayers.

“Our team is looking forward to seeing lots of our customers and families through our doors on weekends once daylight savings begin. We’re excited to see some new faces too.”

Hamilton’s four other branches (Dinsdale, Glenview, St Andrews, Hillcrest) will open from 9.30am to 1.30pm on Saturday and will remain closed on Sundays. There are no changes to weekdays for these branches.

After-hours return chutes are open 24/7.

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