Ara Library City Campus is the library for the students of Ara, the Christchurch polytechnic, at 130 Madras Street in the central city. It supports teaching, learning and research at Ara, and its resources are all found through Library Search. Ara also has libraries at its Timaru and Woolston campuses. Support is available in person at the City and Timaru campuses, and by phone, email or Ask Live.
We hear the City campus library is closed for renovations in 2026, and it has moved to C Building, known as Tahatika, so check the location before you go. Visitors who have been describe it as clean, quiet and comfortable, a good place to study or to read. Several praise the friendly staff, and some say it has computers as well as books. Of the three nearby libraries with ten or more reviews, none rates higher than this one. For a quiet place to study in central Christchurch, it is our pick in the city.