More than 50 library staff at Auckland Council could lose their jobs before Christmas in a big shake up and cost-cutting exercise.

The council is also looking at shutting 31 libraries between Christmas and New Year for the first time and making staff work at two or more libraries.

Libraries general manager Mirla Edmundson said "resetting the library service" was in the early stages, but confirmed it could affect 1100 fulltime and part-time staff. Changes are expected to be decided in December and largely implemented by February next year.

A freeze on recruiting new staff since the middle of the year could reduce the number of staff cuts, she said.

A staff information document, Fit for the Future, issued on August 15 and obtained by the Herald, said there is a need to reduce staff numbers by around 5 per cent.

Part of the reason for Fit for the Future is to make "significant savings' as part of an organisation wide efficiency drive. The library budget is $65 million this financial year, of which staff costs make up two-thirds.

Other goals are to better respond to changing customer needs and ensure libraries have the right people with the right skills in the right place at the right time.

The document said it did not mean reduced opening hours or closing libraries. Libraries were changing with fewer, but longer visits and more electronic check outs. At the same time, staff numbers had remained almost unchanged, the document said.

One proposal on the table is to break with tradition of librarians being based at one library and make them work at two or more libraries to "share skills and grow capacity across the network".