One of the great joys of volunteering in the Library is watching young children gain a love of books. We had a visit on Saturday from a young family, their first visit for over a year. The youngest child, too young to remember the last visit, was in awe at being permitted to take away ‘free books to read’.

The Library has been open for a little while now, operating within certain restrictions, and it has been a pleasure welcoming back all our readers, of whatever age.

What will change?

We have received a few enquiries asking what will be changing in the Library after Monday 19 July 2021. The main concern continues to be keeping everyone – users and volunteers – safe. We’re building on the experiences learned during the last few months and the responses to a recent survey. The Library User policy has been updated and a copy is available at the Library.

To summarise briefly:

We ask that you please continue to wear a mask inside, unless you have a medical exemption. However users of the computers must continue to wear a mask at all times.

We ask that you please continue to maintain a respectful distance from others. This means that numbers will be limited, but this has been increased to allow 4 browsers in the main stacks, and 2 family groups in the children’s area.

Our volunteers will continue to keep the library area, the computers and desks, and the toilets regularly clean and sanitised.

We hope these measures will encourage even more users to feel safe to return to the Library. More guidance can be found on Gov.uk

Click & Collect

If you still feel uncomfortable about coming inside the Library, we continue to offer a Click & Collect service – either telephone your book requests (0191 281 2385) or email us (enquiries@jesmondlibrary.org).

If you have books to return, these can be left at the door during opening hours or simply popped into the letterbox in the back lane. There is currently no charge made for late returns.

New books

We have a large number of new books to tempt you – look out for the large pink dot on the spine label.

We also have a comprehensive ‘Reading Well for Mental Health’ collection of self-help books donated by The Reading Agency.

What freedom means

We want every day at Jesmond Library to be a special day – a Keep-Eachother-Safe Day, and as our young borrower affirmed, a Free-to-Read Day! We look forward to seeing you soon.

Opening hours:

Tuesday: 10-midday and 2-4 pm

Thursday: 2-4 pm (In August we will be adding an extra session, each Thursday from 10-midday)

Saturday: 10-midday and 2-4 pm

In other news:

In the next week or so work will begin to instal new windows in the children’s area. This will entail some disruption, but we will do everything we can to keep this to a minimum, and to ensure children’s books are still accessible.