We hope that you, your family and friends had a peaceful and calm festive period, especially as we have entered a period of further complications and challenges due to the Covid-19 crisis.
Following the announcement on Monday regarding a new nationwide lockdown, the Library building is now closed to Members until further notice. So that Members are not worrying about the return of items, we will extend all current book loans until the end of February.
Whilst the lockdown is in place, the Library team will commit time and resources to further developing our eBooks Lending Library, postal loans service and delivery and collection service, so that Members continue to have access to a broad range of reading during the lockdown period. We hope that as many Members as possible will make use of these services. In addition, should a Member be in Leeds city centre during the lockdown period, there will be a click and collect service set up so that they can collect or drop off items at the Library. It is anticipated that this click and collect service will be provided from Monday to Friday each week between 10.30am and 1.30pm. For all of these services, Members will be required to send in their request for items by email, phone or letter as Government lockdown regulations do not allow us to respond to requests for books made in person. Whilst some of the staff team will be working from home, we will ensure a staff presence in the Library from 10am to 2pm, Monday to Friday so we will be able to answer your phone calls and respond quickly to your email enquiries. This service will be reviewed on a regular basis and adapted in light of any changes in Government policy in response to the Covid-19 crisis.
Complementing the eBooks Library, click and collect, postal and delivery and collection services will be the continuation of the PressReader service which gives Members access to over 6000 magazine and journals online. Members can also continue to use the Drama Online service which provides access to over 300 audio and video performances of the National Theatre, Royal Shakespeare Company and Globe Theatre Company. We are also planning to deliver a range of Member activities online over the coming weeks. Details of all events and projects for Members will be available on the Library online community Forum, on our website and in emailed communications. If you have not yet tried any of the services detailed above and would like to but are unsure as to how to go about doing so, then please do not hesitate to contact the staff team who will be only too willing to help. The Member pages on the Library’s website has lots of helpful information as well.
On behalf of the staff team and Trustees, we want to say that closing the Library is not the way we had hoped to begin 2021. However, it is clear that it is more important than ever that we respect the restrictions imposed by the current national lockdown. We hope that we will be able to open our doors to Members again soon but we are realistic enough to know that this may not be possible. We will, however, do everything we can to ensure the lockdown period is made easier for our Members and are more than happy to answer any of your queries or have a chat over the phone in the coming weeks. And we should stress how much it means to everyone in the Library that during this difficult period Members have taken the time to pass on their support and good wishes.
Finally a reminder about our Membership Categories Survey which was sent our just before Christmas. The challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic crisis have led to the Library team undertaking a review of the membership categories we offer to new and existing members. As part of this process we would like to ask you a few questions to help inform any decisions we make on increasing the number and type of memberships that we may offer in the future.
The survey will only take a couple of minutes to complete and you could win a £30 book token if you complete and submit your response by midnight on Friday 8th January.
Complete the survey here: https://survey.zohopublic.eu/zs/UVhose
