Wednesday 13 May 2020

Last Friday, Prime Minister Scott Morrison outlined the Government’s roadmap for lifting COVID-19 restrictions, following a three-step approach which States and Territories will move through at different times based on local conditions. Mr Morrison mentioned that libraries would re-open within Stage 1 of this process.

On Monday 11 May, Premier Daniel Andrews announced that Victoria would be easing some of the restrictions it put in place as part of its Stage 3 Covid-19 restrictions. However, the advice from the Andrews' Government is that public libraries are to remain closed (please see Department of Health & Human Services website). As such, Geelong Regional Libraries’ branches will not reopen at this stage. We hope to be able to communicate more about our timeline for reopening branches after the next announcement from the Premier, which is expected in approximately three weeks.

With the slight easing of restrictions, it is however possible for us to reinstate our Home Library Service to existing clients from 22 May. This valuable service provides deliveries of library collection items to clients who have ill health or mobility challenges. The deliveries will be undertaken by Geelong Regional Libraries' staff using contactless delivery methods and collection items will be managed with strict cleaning protocols.

For more information about our approach to the COVID-19 pandemic, please visit our dedicated Coronavirus webpage. To keep up with our latest news, be sure to follow us on social media and sign up for our eNewsletter.

We thank our communities for their continued patience and understanding, and look forward to welcoming everyone back to library branches when it is safe to do so.