Partial reopening of Library, VIC

Published on 16 June 2020

The Broken Hill City Library and Visitor Information Centre (VIC) are both set to reopen under modified conditions.

The VIC will open from June 17 and operate 9am-midday on weekdays.

Meanwhile the staged reopening of the library will commence from June 22 via a modified 'Select and Collect' format.

The library will be open from 10am-midday and 2pm-4pm on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, and midday-2pm and 4pm-6pm on Wednesdays.

Under the temporary 'Select and Collect' format, users will be able to reserve books or other resources from the library's collection and collect their items from a pick-up point.

Library Coordinator, Tracy Fraser, said the new borrowing format was in keeping with Government restrictions that needed to be met before the library could reopen.

"Under Government guidelines any books that are handled by the public need to be quarantined, so we unfortunately can't have people physically browsing the collection just yet," said Ms Fraser.

"We also had some delays in procuring all the equipment we needed to meet the guidelines for reopening, but that's all arrived now and we're just really happy to be offering a service to the community again.

"We've been missing all our regular users, and like everyone else we hope things get back to normal sooner rather than later."

Government guidelines will also require those who borrow resources to volunteer their name and contact details to assist with contact tracing in the event a user contracts COVID-19.

An online catalogue of Council's resources can be found here, and users can reserve items for borrowing via the website, or by phoning the library on 8080 3460.

Please note all returns must be made using the chute at the front of library, and there will be a quarantine period of seven days on returned items before they can be made available for borrowing again.

"We understand everyone wants the library back to normal operations again, but we must ensure we follow Government instructions and precautions to keep our users and staff safe," said Ms Fraser.

The library offers a wide range of online services online, and those wishing to join the library for free or view the facility's other digital services can do so here.

Printing and public computer services (limit of 30 minutes) are available by appointment, and users can contact library staff on 8080 3460 for further details.

To keep up to date with the latest opening hours and services being offered at Council's facilities, please click here.