(6 May 2020) With state and territory governments planning to ease restrictions in the coming months, libraries will need to carefully consider the risks associated with reopening, and the measures which will need to put in place when the time comes for them to open.
To assist with this, the Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA) has created a strategic checklist to support this process, including information on staff support, services that need to be phased in (or out), communications planning, and safety precautions.
Additionally, ALIA, with input from the ALIA Australian Public Library Alliance, has been monitoring the impact of COVID-19 on Australian public libraries since early March and has created an interim report.
The report summarises feedback from more than 200 libraries (in total covering 1,500 locations) nationally, including several joint use school community libraries.
This interim report has three purposes:
- To provide peer-to-peer guidance for library teams
- To inform government at all three levels of the impact for communities
- To assist the planning for libraries to reopen.
For more information about how Australian libraries have responded to COVID-19 see the webpage.
The press release is here.
