Visitors to the Ōrewa Library have increased to more than 235,000 a year.

In response to this, the Hibiscus Coast and Bays Local Board has approved an extensive upgrade to cater for the growing demand.

Totalling $5.5 million, the upgrades are scheduled to be completed by June next year.

Auckland Council General Manager Parks and Community Facilities Taryn Crewe says construction progress has largely been concurrent with the original timeline.

“Progress has been steady, and while the foundation work took slightly longer than anticipated, it won’t delay the timeline by much.

Fortunately, the extra foundation work has only added about a week to the timeline.”

Albany Ward Councillor John Watson comments on some of the improvements the upgrades would contribute to.

He says these improvements are “more important than ever” to providing spaces and facilities useful to meeting the needs of the community.

“There’s just going to be more space for people to move around in – at the moment, it can be pretty cramped if there’s a lot of people inside. Specifically, there will be a large children’s library downstairs with plenty of room for collections and programmes – for young and old alike.”

Completed looks of renovations provided by Auckland Council.

Emphasis has also been placed on accessibility, with an added lift to grant access to the mezzanine floor intended to improve disability access.

“A more open downstairs area will provide better sight-lines with lower shelves and better spacing of fixtures and fittings.”

Finally, an extra 240m2 of space has been added to extend the mezzanine floor.

These new spaces will be for meetings and study spaces for students.

This will be easily adapted for different situations, just like at Whangaparaoa Library, where events, exhibitions and community gatherings can be held because of the larger open areas.