Mount Maunganui’s library will close for six months for a $2.5 million upgrade.

Tauranga City Council said in a statement that Te Ao Mārama-Mount Maunganui Library will close from October 27 for the upgrade, which will include a new roof and external cladding, a new community room, refreshed interior spaces, and essential building improvements.

The library was built in the 1960s and extended in the 1980s. The council said it was showing signs of age, with deterioration affecting parts of the roof and cladding.

The council’s website said $2.5m had been budgeted for the works.

Libraries and community hubs manager Joanna Thomas said the upgrade would ensure the “much-loved library” continued to meet the needs of a growing community.

She said it welcomed thousands of people each year.

”These upgrades will help future-proof the facility and create more welcoming, functional spaces for the community.”

Thomas said the new community room would provide a dedicated space for local groups, programmes and activities.

An artist's impression of upgrades to Mount Maunganui Library. Image / Tauranga City Council

This would help the library play an “even greater role in bringing people together”, she said.

During the closure, people could access library services through Tauranga’s other libraries, including the new city centre library, which opens on October 16.

The Mobile Library would also be onsite on Saturdays when works allowed.