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Public library reopenings have been “smooth” so far around the country with high demand, although there are concerns that mask use has not been advocated by the government or Public Health England.
Facilities were allowed to reopen at the start of the month and, according to Libraries Connected, around 90 out of the 151 services in England are now offering some form of provision, often taking a phased approach.
In Buckinghamshire, the local authority has opened 21 out of its 29 facilities with reduced hours so far. The council's head of libraries, David Jones, said staff actually got back to the buildings a month ago for risk assessments and to help staff feel safe again. After that period, returned books were allowed to be deposited and quarantined for 72 hours, followed by a contactless click and collect service. They are now open for browsing and book selection, computer hire and face-to-face information provision where council access points are located.
Jones explained: “We were all nervous and we were all quite scared because we would look for advice and sometimes we would find it and sometimes we wouldn't. Sometimes, if we were really unlucky, we found conflicting advice. And we had to exercise judgment where definitive advice wasn't in place and be bold enough to try and map out this uncharted territory of how we would put the service back together again.
“None of us prior to the 6th July knew with any confidence how it was going to work. Were we going to be inundated? Were people going to observe social distancing? What would the demand be on computers? And how would customers react to the new ways of working and ways of behaving? But tt's worked very well.”
He said staff had reported “very positively” after returning to work after the council had tried to take a “safe and considered” approach, resuming services gradually. There had been some socially distanced queues outside some of the facilities and Jones said the jury was still out on how much fear people had about going back.
Jones said: “My gut feeling was the first week a bit quieter and by the second week it was picking up. I'm confident that in terms of the continued relevance and need for libraries the numbers will vindicate that completely.”
Libraries have been issued with gel and wipes, gloves, masks, visors, spit guards and plastic screens. However, Public Health England has advised that personal protective equipment (PPE) is not mandatory in libraries, meaning staff can exercise their own judgement over whether to wear face coverings.
The government's recent announcement that customers must wear masks in shops does not apply to public spaces. Jones said his team had made no decision over what do about that yet, but library staff were likely to encourage mask use rather than enforce it. He said: “The absence of a government directive on it puts staff in a difficult position in terms of argumentative customers who want to challenge. We don't want staff being put in that policing role and we don't want staff being placed at risk.”
London library campaigner Alan Wylie has spent much of lockdown in video-conferencing meetings with library workers across the country and said concerns over lack of PPE and no official mandate for its use was the most common issue raised by staff. The amount of worry over that varied from council to council, he said.
“Although there have been national guidelines produced that are very helpful and outline what services are supposed to do to make it safe to reopen, without the confidence that comes from the government's backing on things like PPE and social distancing it's difficult to enforce some of these things,” he said.
He added: “I know a lot of library staff I talk to are very, very concerned about the lack of PPE and the government easing the social distancing guidelines. I hear from library staff now and again that it's not going as well as it should be. But it's early days so it's very hard to say. I just know the vast majority of library staff, although they want libraries to reopen are still very wary and concerned about them reopening too soon.”
Like Jones, Wylie was also worried about library staff being put in a policing role, not just over the use of PPE but managing public expectations over what a library can and cannot offer at the moment.
He said: “There are going to be some people who won't be happy about following guidelines and won't be happy about being told what to do or being told they can't come into the building. Library staff will have to deal with abuse and threatening behaviour.”
Despite those concerns and the limited nature of reopenings, some services have reported large uptake. Manchester Libraries opened eight facilities with reduced hours on 4th July and had 600 people visit on the first day alone, with more than 2,000 in the first week borrowing almost 4,000 books. In Norfolk, where 12 libraries were opened on 6th July for browsing and a select and collect service, nearly 12,000 books were loaned out.
Isobel Hunter, c.e.o. of Libraries Connected, said: “Libraries have been working around the clock to prepare for reopening and to make sure that everything is in place to provide visitors with the experience and services they value. So we’re delighted to see this hard work paying off with the smooth reopening of libraries across the country.
“We’ve seen lovely videos and comments over the past week from visitors who were genuinely excited and grateful to see their local library reopen and they’ve been great at following the rules and adjusting to the changes libraries have had to introduce to keep them safe. We know that libraries are an essential part of the UK’s economic, academic and cultural recovery from the Covid-19 crisis and our members are so pleased that they’re once again able to serve the people in their communities who need them most.”
Nick Poole, who is c.e.o. of the library and information association CILIP, said he had also had positive reports from libraries so far, but warned the real challenge ahead would be cuts to local authority budgets, with libraries potentially back in the firing line.
He said: “We are pleased at the positive reports from libraries around the country that have begun to restore services to their users. We’ve had some powerful testimonies from library users about the central role libraries play in their lives. We are also pleased to note that interactions with the public have respected the rules for social distancing and safety.
“We must now turn to the significant challenges ahead. There is a risk that councils facing new financial challenges will look to implement further cuts to services. We have to be clear - libraries are vital social infrastructure, both physically and digitally. As the nation looks to rebuild its economy and get people back into work, we need properly-resourced, professionally-managed libraries at the heart of every community.”