The library, which has more than one million visits a year and boasts a membership covering 52% of the population - 62,000 people - celebrates its big day on December 2.
When it opened in 1908 as the first free public library in New Zealand, it had 1000 books; that number has risen to 720,000.
Library marketing co-ordinator Liz Knowles said yesterday, at a media launch, the idea behind the rebranding was to get people to "take a fresh look" at the library.
The idea behind the logo, which looked either like a wave or the pages of a book being turned, was "a wave of knowledge".
All library members would be issued with a new centennial card as part of a reregistration programme, and the library hoped a membership drive would boost the percentage of citizens who were members to 55%.
The card would have a magnetic strip, which, from 2009, would allow it to be loaded with money to be used for photocopying, rentals and other services.
The centenary programme would include the launch of Freedom to Read: a centennial history of the Dunedin Public Library by former Dunedin city and national librarian, Mary Ronnie, the launch of a new literary heritage walk in collaboration with the Otago Settlers Museum, and a books roadshow with a panel to offer "advice and illumination".
Events for the centenary begin on October 6.
Asked about the cost of the rebranding, library services manager Bernie Hawke said the library had not had to ask the Dunedin City Council for any money, as it had been sourced from operational funding.
