A Wellington web designer is calling the city council's decision to spend $600,000 on an Auckland company to develop a new library website an "insulting, stupid" move.

Documents released under the Official Information Act show the contract was awarded after a closed tender process. Council officers say the firm offered "specialist integration" with the library's catalogue system that local studios could not match.

Wellington-based designer Anya Brennan, who runs a small studio in Te Aro, said the price was three to five times what the work should have cost. "There are dozens of studios in this city that could have done this. To send the money to Auckland — and to do it quietly — is insulting."

Mayor Andrew Little has asked for a written briefing from officers and said he expects "a much clearer test for local procurement" in future contracts.