Public library services had a positive impact on those who engaged with them during lockdown.
Public library staff made a valuable contribution to the Covid-19 response.
Public library services and their staff could have delivered much more – but faced barriers in doing so.
Public library services have huge potential to support individuals and communities as they navigate the short, medium and long-term impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Eight action areas are identified that challenge national and local governments, sector support bodies and the sector itself to go further to ensure that everyone in the UK has an equal opportunity to experience the enabling impact of the best public library services.
The report draws on public polling of 2,196 UK adults carried out by Savanta ComRes on behalf of the Carnegie UK Trust, 1,196 responses to a public library staff survey and depth interviews with 22 Heads of Service.
You can access the Making a Difference report series by clicking on the links below:
Initially at least, services will be restricted. As you might expect, numbers within buildings will be limited and social distancing measures will be in place. Face coverings are mandatory in Libraries.
We appreciate your support and look forward to welcoming you back!
Culture and Communities Convener Cllr Donald Wilson said: “It’s a really positive step forward that these six libraries are opening to the public ahead of schedule as they are invaluable resources for our local communities.
“This phased reopening, which will also see community access to sports facilities in secondary schools start up again next month, is an important step in our plans for a phased reopening of community assets across the city.
“Libraries are a vital requirement in any democratic society, giving access to knowledge and literature, helping to bridge the digital divide and also centres for strengthening local communities.”
Culture and Communities Vice Convener Cllr Amy McNeese-Mechan said: “We really appreciate everyone’s support and patience as we gradually reopen our libraries, welcoming people back into their local spaces.
“Although services will be limited initially due to current restrictions, with an online booking service for some such as browsing and borrowing, I’m sure everyone will fully appreciate that our top priority remains the health of our residents and library colleagues.
“This cautious approach demonstrates our commitment and recognition of the importance of public libraries in this, the world’s first UNESCO City of Literature.”
The Council will start a three-stage phased plan for the reopening of its libraries and community centres from today, with the second and third stages being subject to committee approval.
The new plans outline that some community centres could open in the coming days to enable groups to get access to the buildings to run community-based services like crisis support and local food banks, followed by the first phase of library openings with committee approval.
All actions will be subject to approval to make sure appropriate health and safety measures are put in place.
A report will be brought to the Policy and Sustainability Committee on Thursday 6 August where, subject to approval, it is hoped stage two will see the first phase of library openings to ensure limited city-wide access and the reopening of specific community centres to support the wider opening of schools and provision of out of school care.
It will consider how the Council balances access to important community facilities with the latest public health guidance and resulting costs from putting in place additional cleaning and other steps required to open in a safe way.
If approved by committee, the third stage for w/c Monday 14 September will see further libraries and community centres re-open based on latest public health guidance.
Council Leader Adam Mcvey said: We all appreciate our community centres and libraries and we’re keen to get them open for our communities again, however we’re still in the midst of a global pandemic and need to make sure that any buildings we do open is carried out in a consistent and safe way.
“We have a three-stage approach to the reopening of Libraries and Community Centres prioritising safety and we look forward to announcing more details in the coming weeks.
“It will be great to see libraries open again but it’s also been heartening to see such a positive response to our digital service which has remained in operation throughout lockdown.
“We’ve seen the number of downloads of e-books, e-magazines and e-newspapers continue to increase with over 1.5 million downloads in 2019/20 and in April we saw an increase of 64% (ebooks), 67% (eaudio books) and 118% (emagazines and enewspapers) on the same month last year.
“We hope that this expansion of use of digital services helps more people in our communities continue to access these services going forward.
Council Depute Leader Cammy Day added: As with all our buildings, reopening them during the Covid-19 pandemic requires additional considerations to make sure they are safe for all to use including additional cleaning and reorganising the space.
“Each building has its own specific considerations which means that some buildings will be able to open sooner than others. Right now we are focussed on getting our schools open for the first day of term and a number of other buildings, including community centres, will be a key part of this work.
“We know how important our services and spaces are to the entire community and, subject to Government guidelines, we will be opening additional buildings over the coming months.
“We appreciate the patience and support from residents while we work to restart our services and we look forward to welcoming them back.”
The city council has taken the decision to close all public libraries and community centres by 10pm tonight.
Parts of the City Chambers will also be shut. For library users, there will be no additional fines from Friday 20 March until further notice.
Services including eBooks, audiobooks, magazines and newspapers will be available online. For all the information you need to get started, please visit https://yourlibrary.edinburgh.gov.uk
Advice hubs will be set up in different parts of the city to provide advice and support to citizens. We will share further details as soon as we can.
The planning and building standards helpdesk will be closed until further notice. You can still view and comment on planning applications at https://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/planning-building/planning-online-services and email the team at planning@edinburgh.gov.uk
Cancellations:
All our community-based Adult Learning classes have been cancelled until further notice. This includes; ESOL (English for speakers of other languages), Family Learning, Outlook, all Literacy/Numeracy classes including those for deaf learners and English classes for Syrian refugees.
All our Active School extra curricular clubs have been cancelled until further notice.
All organised events due to be hosted in our parks have been cancelled until the end of April.
The Council’s Housing, Homelessness and Fair Work Committee, scheduled for Thursday 19 March at the City Chambers, has been cancelled.
Choices for City Plan drop-in event, scheduled for Thursday 19 March at St Brides Community Centre, has been cancelled.
Our successful environmentally themed creative writing competition, open to all P4-P7 aged children in Edinburgh and, once again, to young people in S1-3, is running again this year.
