Eight of the city’s libraries – including City Library, on the lower ground floor of Manchester Central Library – will be open to all users on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, from 11am – 3pm. Children aged 12 and under must be accompanied by a parent, carer or older sibling.
The eight libraries which are reopening at this stage are Chorlton Library, City Library (at Central Library), Didsbury Library, Gorton Library, Longsight Library, Newton Heath Library, Withington Library and Forum Library, Wythenshawe.
With the exception of City Library, all of these libraries will open at 10am on Tuesdays and Thursdays, reserving the first hour as a special slot for residents aged over 60.
Users will be allowed a window of up to 30 minutes to browse for books, or can select and reserve up to six books at a time for collection in advance by using the Libraries’ online catalogue.
A limited number of computers will also be available for use by the public at each site. Due to limited availability, people wishing to visit the library to use a computer are encouraged to call in advance and book their slot.
From Monday 29 June, library users can start reserving books to be picked up when their chosen library is open, using the online libraries catalogue. Options are to Ring and Read – get help to find books which you might enjoy by calling one of the libraries that are opening – or Click and Collect, using www.manchester.gov.uk/libraries.
Books which were borrowed before libraries were forced to close because of the coronavirus pandemic have been renewed until the end of July, meaning that fines will not have been accrued during this period.
To help ensure social distancing, the numbers of users allowed inside each library at one time will be limited, so it may be necessary to queue outside the library for safety reasons at busy times. Hand sanitisers will be available at each entrance for visitors’ use.
The Books To Go service for housebound residents restarted earlier this month and will continue to deliver books to its customers every four weeks.
