All Boulder library branches will close temporarily starting next week as the city prepares to officially transition its municipal library system to the new property tax-funded Boulder Public Library District.

Joni Teter, chair of the Library District Board of Trustees, said the transition to the new library district is on track for Jan. 1, and the district will officially open its doors Jan. 2. The last major piece of work is to move the library branches onto a new technology system.

“We have to go completely away from the city system, which supports everything from emails to the library catalogs and the website,” Teter said. “We’re having to build our own infrastructure, which is underway. And then there’s a physical transfer where they actually have to go in and do things like splice cables and change out switches.”

The city’s library branches will be closed from Tuesday through Dec. 25. While Teter said the library district had hoped to allow the public to continue using the buildings while this work is being done, it won’t be possible.

During the closure, according to a city news release, checked-out books and other materials will not be due back, although book returns at the Main Library, Meadows, Reynolds and NoBo branches will stay open. Anything on the hold shelf during the closure will stay on hold through Dec. 30.

It will not be possible to put new holds on Boulder Public Library’s physical collection, but digital collections with Libby, Hoopla and Kanopy will stay available during the closure. Boulder Public Library card holders will be able to check out items from libraries in Broomfield, Lafayette, Longmont, Louisville and Loveland.

Keeping the library branches closed for a week creates one less place for unhoused individuals to go during the day. Teter said many come to the libraries during daytime hours, especially during cold weather, when they have few other options.

The Boulder Shelter for the Homeless is only open at night except during critical weather conditions. The city defines “critical weather” as when temperatures are forecasted to be 10 degrees or below at night or 20 degrees or below during the day — or when at least six inches of snow are expected.

On critical weather nights, the shelter makes an additional 20 beds available and allows individuals who stay the night to remain there the following day, if the critical weather persists.

Teter said she hopes the city will offer some kind of additional shelter during the days when the libraries will be closed.

“The city has a very robust system in place for offering people shelter when the temperature drops … but nothing in between,” she said. “I think the city and the county have been relying on the library for a very, very long time. And everyone’s welcome to use the library, but there are services folks need that the libraries really are not equipped to provide.”

As of Tuesday, Kurt Firnhaber, director of Boulder Housing and Human Services, said the city had no plans to expand its sheltering during the library closures, beyond the existing critical weather protocols.