This is another big step on the road to services returning to normal for library customers and will mean people can enter libraries and browse and borrow books and other items. Browsing will be reintroduced in almost all libraries during the week of Monday 12 April. The mobile library service will also be resuming from Monday.
Customers and staff will still need to follow safety procedures including social distancing and wearing a face mask. The numbers of customers in the library will be restricted to allow people to browse safely.
People can also now book and use computers in libraries and the Home Library Service has also recently resumed.
The exceptions are Saxmundham Library where browsing and computer use will not return until the library moves from its temporary base to a new building in May. Newmarket Library will be operating from a temporary unit in the Guineas Shopping Centre from next week whilst building work is ongoing and will reintroduce browsing on 27 April.
Library customers are also encouraged to visit Suffolk Libraries COVID-19 page regularly for service updates.
Activities and events will not be returning to libraries until June but Suffolk Libraries is continuing to provide a wide range of online events. This includes the forthcoming Skulduggery in Stowmarket crime author festival later this month. For more details visit the Suffolk Libraries website where you can also find more details of Suffolk Libraries’ extensive eLibrary services.
Browsing was reintroduced briefly in libraries last autumn before the country then entered a second lockdown in November.