It was received during the October council meeting on Tuesday.
A staff report for the meeting recommended chief executive Alex Parmley respond directly given it was "an operational matter".
Since July, the previous Waitaki head and children’s librarians have departed after the reorganisation began.
Retired Waitaki librarian Glenys Robinson spearheaded the petition on behalf of lobby group Leave Our Libraries Alone (LOLA).
Under the transformation model, libraries at Oamaru, Palmerston — and a yet-to-be finalised Waitaki Valley location — would become "community hubs".
Services such as dog registration would be delivered at those sites, other council staff working alongside librarians.
LOLA’s petition calls for the full organisation design of the transformation to be released.
Ms Robinson made a simple plea when addressing councillors on Tuesday.
"Please let us know, as the public, what is going to happen."
She had retired a year ago, leaving a cohesive and professional team but it was being undermined at a time of falling literacy, she said.
"Now is a terrible time to undervalue the worth of qualified experienced librarians.
"We ask council to protect and grow public library services across the Waitaki district in consultation with the residents," Ms Robinson said.
Petition signatories were particularly worried by the negative impact of the reorganisation on library staffing and services.
"The lack of specific details regarding library positions is causing concern among regular library users."
Members of the public had also expressed fear over signing the petition given their close connections to those working at the council.
"This council is creating fear among the population [it] was elected to serve," Ms Robinson said.
A staff report said the reorganisation was legitimately "an operational matter".
"Local government organisations are not required to consult with the public or ratepayers specifically on organisational restructures or redesigns," governance and policy adviser Ainslee Hooper said.
However the transformation process was about "opening up, not closing down", the report said.
Cr Jim Hopkins said he found the concern about there allegedly being fewer dedicated staff puzzling.
"You talk of the range of things the library staff have already done of their own accord.
"Given that staff there are already doing all these things of their own volition, why would it be likely that a few more things would lead to further resignations?"
Ms Robinson said she believed the skills offered by some qualified staff were being denigrated.
Cr Hopkins suggested that might be an issue if some were asked to do undertake tasks they "didn’t want to do".
"The staff there have already chosen to do things to make it more of a community hub," he said.
Mr Parmley said the aim was for services "that cost a lot less money".
"We want to do that in a way that is efficient."
He cited the new Ashburton library model with a council service desk beside library services as an example.
Mr Parmley noted that in Oamaru the council already operated five different public-facing points in Thames St.
