South Library closed; South Colombo Library opening 9am Monday 24 February
With demolition about to begin on the earthquake-damaged South Library and Customer Service Hub, Christchurch City Council is opening two new pop-up facilities to serve the local community.
The temporary library, South Colombo, will open at The Colombo shopping centre, 363 Colombo Street on Monday 24 February 2025. The temporary Customer Service Hub will open at Pioneer Recreation and Sport Centre on Monday 10 February.
This means the last day open for the Customer Service Hub will be Friday 7 February, and the last day for the Library will be Sunday 9 February.
Ōmōkihi South Library and Customer Service Hub
Christchurch City Council is rebuilding the earthquake-damaged South Library and Customer Service Hub building, Te Kete Wānanga o wai Mōkihi, in Beckenham. Find out more about the new Ōmōkihi South Library and Customer Service Hub.
Find out more about Ōmōkihi South Library and Customer Service Hub
The new South Library has been gifted a name - Ōmōkihi – connecting the building back to its riverside site.
The name has been given to Christchurch City Council by Ngāi Tūāhuriri and is consistent with the traditional practice of whakahaumanu te papatupu | restoring the customary title to the land beneath the building. Read more: Connecting South Library back to its history Newsline, 13 February 2024
We're engaging with the community as we draw up plans for rebuilding the quake-damaged South Library and customer services building, Te Kete Wānanga o Wai Mōkihi, in Beckenham. Ignite Architects will develop the concept design for a rebuild of the earthquake-damaged building. Ignite will lead a multi-disciplinary team of specialists who'll work together to create a design for a new build on the existing site. The rebuilt facility will provide library, customer services, café and governance spaces and will be a similar size to the existing building. It's important to have the community involved every step of the way. Find out more.
Location confirmed for pop-up South Library
Christchurch City Libraries is partnering with The Colombo shopping centre to create a new pop-up library in early 2025.
The pop-up will serve as a temporary replacement for the soon-to-be-rebuilt South Library building.
The earthquake-damaged South Library and Service Centre building is set to be demolished in autumn 2025 to make way for the new Ōmōkihi South Library and Customer Service Hub.
“Of all our community libraries, South attracts the most visitors – it's a familiar home away from home for many people in that area of Christchurch,” says Carolyn Robertson, Libraries and Information Manager.
“Losing that sort of service can be tough for a community. Setting up shop nearby is the best way to keep the services running, and The Colombo is just down the road. We have access to The Colombo site from early December and will start preparations then, for an early 2025 opening.”
The pop-up library will be located in the western side of The Colombo and offer a collection of around 8000 items, an area for children’s sessions and spaces for people to relax and study. The familiar team from South will run the pop-up library.
“South Library’s true home is on that beautiful riverside spot in Beckenham, and we’ll all miss it while it’s out of action, but the pop-up will be a lovely little spot in the interim and the end result of all this work – Ōmōkihi – will be well worth the decade-plus wait,” Mrs Robertson says.
Ōmōkihi will be built on the same site, and keep a similar floor area, as the current facility. It will provide a library, customer services, learning centre, café, governance spaces and meeting rooms.
The pop-up library will be open seven days, with exact hours to be confirmed, and is expected to operate until December 2026, when Ōmōkihi South Library is set to open.
Information from Location confirmed for pop-up South Library, Newsline, 8 October 2024
South Library
Library Names: the Stories of the Bilingual Names for Christchurch City Libraries

The Waitaha people would have known this area first, and then came Kāti Mamoe and, later, Kāi Tahu. Beckenham circuit, where the new library is situated, was traditionally used by Māori as a mahika kai or a place for gathering food. The only remaining area of the marsh today is the Beckenham Ponds, formed from natural springs in the nearby Beckenham Park.
The swamps draining into the Ōpāwaho River were called Te Kuru and the upper reaches of the river at Spreydon bore the name Wai Mōkihi after a smaller pā located there called Ōmōkihi meaning 'place of the flax staff rafts'. These craft were used by Māori to cross the river before a bridge was built. They are temporary watercraft constructed by binding together reed shafts and forming a very able means of travel over short distances.
The river contained different types of eels (tuna), tūere (blind eel), kanakana (lamprey), native trout (kōkopu), small freshwater crayfish (kōura), tidal herrings (aua ā tai) and whitebait (inaka). The people of this area were known for their abilities in aquaculture and night fishing. Māori fisherman did not carry lights, but speared eels by listening for them. The hills close by would also have been home to moa and weka.
When Europeans came to the area, they changed the Ōpāwaho to the Heathcote River. Captain Joseph Thomas, the Canterbury Association's surveyor, named it after Sir William Heathcote, who was a committee member of the Association in England.