Between December 25 and January 5, Blueskin Bay, Mosgiel, Port Chalmers, South Dunedin and Waikouaiti Libraries will be closed to the public and Dunedin City Library will close all but the ground floor to visitors.
Wakari resident Suzanne Middleton said these closures were disappointing for residents as well as visitors to the city.
"It’s a great place to go when you have nothing to do but want to get out of the house. A lot of people go there just because it’s a warm place with welcoming faces.
"The summer break is a time when families have time to go to the library all together, and many cruise ship passengers may want to stop at these libraries to do things such as search their heritage or just have a sit-down inside while here."
She said children all over the city counted how many books they read over the summer, but "bad luck if you live in Middlemarch and you’re mum does the groceries in Mosgiel — library’s closed".
"Some of us will be here for summer and want stuff to do — we can’t all afford a Cromwell crib to spend summer at."
A council spokesman said the council acknowledged libraries were important hubs for the community and some people would be disappointed library services were offering a limited service.
"We’ll be letting people borrow books for longer over this period, with items issued now not due back until after January 6 because we understand our community loves a good holiday read."
The council usually ran a reduced library service over the holidays but decided to extend this to "prioritise the wellbeing of dedicated library staff".
Visitor data collected by the council over previous years showed the period between December 27 and 30 was quiet for all the region’s libraries.
"We want our staff to have a proper break over the Christmas and New Year’s period ... This year has been particularly busy for our library staff," the spokesman said.
He said visitors would still be able to visit the city library, use the library’s free Wi-Fi and access all the library resources normally available to borrow simply by asking staff to collect items from other floors.
On January 6 all libraries would resume normal hours, with the exception of the Bookbus, which would return to service on January 13.
