In preparation for the rotation of medical staff which takes place in August each year and healthcare students due to start courses in September, online induction and training sessions are being recorded and the national NHS Wales Library site (https://www.nhswls.org) will be used to make these, and other resources, available. During the First Minister’s statement on 8 May, he announced that Wales will make a series of adjustments to the regu- lations, including enabling local authori- ties to begin the process of planning how to safely reopen libraries. And regular


consultation is now in place between government and the Society of Chief Librarians in Wales.


There is a strong recognition of the role that libraries play in supporting commu- nities and a real will to move beyond the current digital only offer, with the Welsh Government providing additional funds through its Cultural Resilience Fund to help adapting facilities to provide click and collect services.


All authorities in Wales have, or will be introducing, a click and collect service to customers over the coming weeks.


Services will be available via the local library’s website or a specific phone line and will offer either a random collection of books and/or specific titles provided (where available) for collection. At the time of writing, we are also awaiting an announcement about Welsh Government funding for the transla- tion of the Summer Reading Challenge website as well as the generation of some Welsh original content.


l www.cilip.org.uk/wales


GERARDINE Blee, CILIP Ireland’s Relationship Manager, looks at how Northern Ireland’s library and information services will be delivering services as the country’s lockdown restrictions begin to ease.


CILIP Ireland –


Gerardine Blee, CILIP Ireland Relationship Manager


In recent months libraries from across all sectors have risen to the challenge in their response to the far reaching impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. Although the physical library buildings may have closed, libraries have adapted by utilising online technologies in new and creative ways to deliver their services remotely.


As thoughts turn to the easing of lockdown restric- tions and the reopening of services, local libraries have been working hard to develop plans and put measures in place to ensure the safety and welfare of everyone; both users and staff alike. On 12 May 2020 the Northern Ireland Executive published a five-step plan for easing the Covid-19 lockdown. In the plan, which did not include specific dates for the five steps to recovery, selected libraries were to reopen with restricted services in step two. Thereafter all libraries could open in step three. Timings will depend on decisions to be made by the Northern Ireland Executive but it is hoped that the picture will be clearer by the time of publication.


Libraries NI has its plans in place for “Operation ReConnect” to enable the phased reopening of public libraries. This will involve reopening branch libraries with most of the 96 branches providing a “book and collect” service initially, while 17 libraries will facilitate browsing and limited access to IT on a pilot basis. These libraries have been chosen for their physical attributes (size, shape, number of floors etc.) so as to maximise the learning from the five-week pilot. If successful this approach would then be extended to other libraries. The other aspects of Operation ReConnect involve resumption of the Homecall service and the introduction of BookBox, a temporary extended Homecall service serving a broader group of vulnerable customers. Timings will depend on decisions to be made by the Executive.


It is likely that schools will see a phased reopen- ing from September. Following their closure in late March, local school librarians immediately responded with many wonderful activities to support teachers and students. These included sourcing and collating eBooks and other online resources to support independent learning across the curriculum, running live library sessions through Instagram stories and delivering a summer reading challenge for pupils. At Strathearn School, in Belfast, the Librarian, Dr Emily Haire, planned and delivered a Library Challenge afternoon, as one of a series of Creative Curriculum afternoons run by the school in June. In advance of the afternoon, Dr Haire surveyed the pupils and staff on their recent reading habits. The results, notably that personalised recommen- dations were a key factor in what readers chose to pick up next, informed Dr Haire’s plans. In order to highlight and promote how personal responses to books can encourage others, Dr Haire, set up a 50-question super quiz, a book domino video chal- lenge, a book mark video tutorial as well as a book bingo grid. Feedback from these initiatives has been overwhelmingly positive with pupils report- ing a desire or determination to read more. Here at CILIP Ireland we are busy making plans for the rest of this year whilst taking account of government guidelines. This will include moving our annual Open Day and AGM in December online and we look forward to seeing all our mem-


June-July 2020 INFORMATION PROFESSIONAL 15


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