20 March 2020
To help stop the spread of coronavirus, Jersey Library will be closing its doors to the public from 9am Saturday, 21 March.
Jersey Library is a large public building with a high daily footfall. Even with the current situation, daily visits over the last week have averaged around 700 per day, with a broad demographic range, including young families, students and the elderly. Despite enhanced cleaning and space monitoring, the current levels of use mean it is not possible to adequately support social distancing.
Therefore, in the interest of customers and staff from Saturday 21 March, Jersey Library services will be limited to online and home delivery, with the Town Library, Les Quennevais Branch and mobile library services temporarily closing.
Chief Librarian, Ed Jewell said: “While I’m very disappointed to be closing our doors to the public, Jersey Library will still be providing a valued service to the public during this difficult time.
“We have over 15,000 ebooks, magazines, newspapers audiobooks and comics available online, which Islanders can access free of charge, 24 hours per day.
“We will seek to reopen limited public services as soon as we are confident that we can guarantee the safety of our customers and staff and that we can adequately support social distancing in our libraries.
“Meanwhile, our staff are contactable by phone or email to answer any questions and we’re also exploring new ways of delivering our services to the public; whether by livestreaming reading groups and story time, or by expanding our home delivery service. “I’d encourage customers to connect via our Facebook page where we will be sharing updates.”
More information and links to the library’s online resources
Library email: je.library@gov.je
Library phone number: 01534 448700.
gov.je