Planning is well underway for Rotorua Library's move to its temporary home in what library director Jane Gilbert has described as a "major operation".
With the creation of a new Library and Child Health Care hub on the existing library site all library services will move to a temporary home in what was the former Van Dyk's building on the corner of Amohia and Pukuatua Sts.
"Moving house can be a stressful undertaking and very few moves can be as complicated and involve as many items as this one!" said Mrs Gilbert.
The library will move in just over a month and will occupy the site for two years until the construction of the new hub is complete.
"We have a huge amount of material to relocate, with tens of thousands of publications to archive, our public computer resources, our IT structures, and the cultural treasures and taonga we have here. We have to ensure that all these things are moved in the correct manner and with due consideration - and with as little disruption to our regular services as possible," said Mrs Gilbert.
She said that maintaining as much of the functionality of the library as possible during the move was a top priority and a great deal of planning was being carried out so it would not have to be closed for any longer than absolutely necessary.