I’ve received notification from the county library service that Blackhall library is set to reopen its doors from next week. All library users will be contacted in due course to inform them of the latest news but in the meantime I’ve reproduced in full the notification I’ve received:
Barnard Castle; Wolsingham, Chester-le-Street, Consett, Stanley, Crook, Newton Aycliffe, Peterlee, Seaham, Easington, Woodhouse Close and Bishop Auckland Town Hall in Bishop Auckland, Sedgefield, Shildon, Spennymoor, Thornley and Belmont, Clayport and Newton Hall, in Durham.
These former Pick and Collect libraries will be joined by 10 additional sites at Bowburn, Blackhall, Brandon, Chilton, Cornforth, Lanchester, Langley Park, Murton, Trimdon and Wingate.
The libraries have been chosen as they are busy branches, which also offer sufficient space to provide the essential elements of safe browsing and safe computer use. This includes space for visitors to queue safely prior to entry and for a quarantine area to be created for returned books.
The chosen sites also offer a good geographical spread of locations around the county.
All other library services, including printing, photocopying, study tables, easy seating and soft furnishings, children’s toys and jigsaws, as well as meeting rooms, community room access and events will remain suspended for the time being, although we are currently looking at how these services can be reintroduced in the near future.
We will also be maintaining our Doorstep Book Drop service. This service has temporarily replaced Books on Wheels during the lockdown period and provides books for our most isolated and vulnerable residents.
Our extended digital offer, including more e-books, e-magazines and e-audio titles, has proved popular with library users over the past few months and will remain available alongside other online resources and digital storytelling. More than 7,000 people have visited the Libraries Online web page since the start of April, while more than 3,000 people have viewed online storytelling sessions during the same period.
We are planning to increase the number of sites operating the in-library browsing and access to computers in the coming weeks and months and will extend the services to all of our remaining branches where it is safe to do so.
We will be contacting all library users direct to inform them of the updates to the service.
In the meantime, please follow the County Durham Libraries accounts on Twitter and Facebook for updates.
More information is also available at awb://www.durham.gov.uk/libraries