Friday 31 July 2020

Cautious limited re-opening of four Brent libraries. Face covering and Test & Trace details required

From Brent Council

At the beginning of July, Brent Council began a phased reopening of library, arts and heritage services to ensure a safe and welcoming environment for staff, residents and visitors returning to their local libraries.

Wembley Library and The Library at Willesden Green were the first to reopen. Ealing Road Library and Kilburn Library will reopen on Monday 3 August. The opening hours will be 10.30am - 2.30pm.
We are currently working hard to make Kingsbury Library and Harlesden Library Plus Covid-secure, and expect both to reopen during August.

Brent Council request contact details for all library visitors to support the NHS' Test and Trace' programme. Adult visitors must also wear a face covering. This is mandatory unless you are in an exempt group and you may be asked to leave if you refuse to fill to complete the Test and Trace or wear a face covering.

Customers will be able to borrow and return books and DVDs and reserve computers, however there will a limit on the number of people able to enter the libraries at any one time.

A number of services including Wi-Fi, newspapers and journals, and study facilities will not be available for now, but this will be reviewed regularly. The Willesden Gallery and Brent Museum and Archives will also remain closed for the time being.

Residents are encouraged to continue using the e-Library to access thousands of e-books, e-magazines, newspapers and other digital resources from the comfort of their own home, by visiting www.brent.gov.uk/elibrary.

Brent Museum and Archives also has exhibitions, school resources and access to the museum, archive and photography library online for everyone to enjoy.

To support library users during this time, all items currently out on loan have been automatically renewed until Tuesday 1 September and the Brent libraries phone 020 8937 3400 and email service libraries@brent.gov.uk will be available Monday to Friday from 10am-5pm if customers need any help with their account details or accessing the e-library.

Brent’s Home Library Service will be restarting, delivering books and magazines to vulnerable residents, using our strong team of local volunteers. If you are unable to leave your home and would like to know more about this service please contact the library service.

Brent Council’s Cabinet Member for Public Health, Culture and Leisure, Councillor Hirani said:

The reopening of Wembley Library, The Library at Willesden Green, Ealing Road Library and Kilburn Library is a really positive step, however we still need to be cautious as COVID-19 has not gone away.
That’s why these four libraries will be open on a very limited basis at first with safety measures in place, so we can make sure we’re taking every step to protect staff and visitors.

Residents can access the e-library at the click of a button so I’d urge people to continue using this if they can. If you do choose to visit the library, please make sure you maintain social distancing at all times and follow the instructions of the library staff.

As part of the phased reopening of the libraries service, these libraries will be the first to open with plans to open the rest when it’s safe to do so.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

What nonesense is Test and Trace. Recently, I visited a place that had been issued forms by Brent Council for test and trace. Nevertheless, I duly filled in the form with the name Latisha Butler and some random mobile number. No one asked for ID to prove what I had written was correct, but two of the workers know my real name. What made me giggle even more was the fact no one picked up on Latisha Butler is an anagram of A Bullshitta.