Plans for a staged reopening of\u202fNewcastle\u2019s libraries\u202fwill progress\u00a0from 15 June\u00a0after\u202fhome library\u202fservices\u202fresumed last week.
\n\u201cThe City\u00a0has developed\u00a0a staged approach to\u202freopening\u202four\u202flibraries\u2019\u202fdoors to\u00a0its members\u00a0that prioritises public\u202fand employee\u202fsafety,\u201d\u00a0Manager Libraries and Learning Suzie Gately said.
\n\u201cWe\u2019ll start with\u202freopening\u202fthe\u202fNewcastle and Wallsend branches\u00a0to\u00a0library\u00a0members\u202fon 15 June,\u202flimiting\u202fthe number of\u202fcustomers\u202finside\u202fto allow for social\u00a0distancing\u202fand\u202fwe\u202fwill\u202fmonitor\u202fbrowsing and\u202fattendance\u202ftime\u202fusing a \u2018Library Express\u2019 model.\u201d
\n\u201cWe have modified our opening schedule to allow for adequate cleaning\u202fof the facilities.\u202fThe City\u2019s libraries\u202fhave\u202falso\u202fexpanded their online offerings during the COVID-19 pandemic which has led to an increase\u202fin downloads of the Library app\u202fof\u202f233\u00a0per cent.\u202fOur expanded online\u202fprogram will continue.\u201d
\nThe Libraries\u2019 membership has increased by more than 1,000 during the pandemic\u00a0to\u00a093,640\u00a0after the City invested $60,000 in 5,800 additional e-book and audiobook titles, plus\u00a0a\u00a0new video streaming platform \u2018Medici TV\u2019.
\nThis follows a 213 per cent increase in usage of an online learning package offered through Newcastle Libraries, with 2,291 sessions streamed free of charge in April\u00a0alone.
\nThe Library has\u00a0continued to engage its audience\u00a0through\u00a052 online programs such as Facebook Live story\u00a0times, stop motion Lego clubs, kids online\u00a0crafternoons, podcasts, author talks\u00a0and\u00a0creative workshops.
\nIn May,\u00a0almost nine hours\u00a0of video content was published and\u00a0more than four\u00a0hours of Facebook Live kids\u2019 programs were delivered\u00a0receiving\u00a011,433 views\u00a0during the\u00a0month.
\nNewcastle Museum\u202fwill reopen to the public on 23\u00a0June,\u202fhowever the\u202ffacility\u2019s interactive attractions will remain closed\u202ffor safety\u202fin line with State guidelines.
\nBlackbutt Reserve\u2019s animal exhibit boardwalk\u00a0reopened last week.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Plans for a staged reopening of\u202fNewcastle\u2019s libraries\u202fwill progress\u00a0from 15 June\u00a0after\u202fhome library\u202fservices\u202fresumed last week. \u201cThe City\u00a0has developed\u00a0a staged approach to\u202freopening\u202four\u202flibraries\u2019\u202fdoors to\u00a0its members\u00a0that prioritises public\u202fand employee\u202fsafety,\u201d\u00a0Manager Libraries and Learning Suzie Gately said. \u201cWe\u2019ll start with\u202freopening\u202fthe\u202fNewcastle and Wallsend branches\u00a0to\u00a0library\u00a0members\u202fon 15 June,\u202flimiting\u202fthe number of\u202fcustomers\u202finside\u202fto allow for social\u00a0distancing\u202fand\u202fwe\u202fwill\u202fmonitor\u202fbrowsing and\u202fattendance\u202ftime\u202fusing a \u2018Library Express\u2019 model.\u201d \u201cWe have modified our opening schedule to … Continue reading “City\u2019s libraries set to reopen”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6856","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-newcastle"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6856","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6856"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6856\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6856"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6856"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6856"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}