Bradley Stoke Library has introduced new opening hours with effect from Monday 6th February, providing an extra 42 hours of opening through a swipe card Open Access system, which allows people to use services when staff are not present. During the unstaffed times library users are able to browse, borrow and return books and use the IT facilities, from early in the morning to later in the evening.
This new self-service facility allows existing users to visit the library outside of staffed hours using their library card and a PIN they will be issued with when they upgrade their membership and are given an induction to show them how the Open Access system works.
Open Access users can enter the library from 8am – 9.30pm Monday to Friday, with staff on site 9.30am to 6pm on every weekday, apart from Wednesday. On weekends, Open Access is between 8am and 6pm, with staffing available 9.30am – 5pm on Saturdays and 11am – 3pm on Sundays. The changes mean that staff will be available earlier in the day, when the library is busier, rather than in the evenings.
This changes are part of a major refurbishment of Bradley Stoke Library, which includes the creation of a Quiet Zone to allow people to study and use the computers in an area without disturbance, a new more visible entrance and a casual seating area. The work was funded by Section 106 funding from local housing developments, which funds core Council infrastructure projects and was carried out at the same time as the £3.6 million redevelopment.
This Open Access technology is relatively new to the UK, although it is used extensively in Scandinavia. To use the system, all users are given an induction, explaining terms and conditions of use, entry outside of staffed hours, along with the usual self-service facilities for borrowing, renewing and returning of books and other items. The PCs and wi-fi are also available, along with printing and photocopying facilities and a selection of quick-pick book titles, DVDs and CDs.
To sign up for this new service please call in to the library, phone 01454 868006 or send an email to bradleystoke.library@southglos.gov.uk
Cllr Heather Goddard, chair of the council’s Environment and Community Services (ECS) Committee, said:
“We are very pleased to be able to invest this money in Bradley Stoke library. It will benefit many of those who already use the library, but we also help that others will take advantage of the opportunity to use the building, maybe on the way to or from work, or before or after visiting the gym or new climbing wall and the leisure centre.”
“The library users who have already tried it out have been pleased so far. Although this is new technology for the library, the concepts of self-service checkouts and swipe-card access to a building are not new.”
“I hope that more people will now feel able to use the library at a time that suits them. Access to the expertise of our library staff will remain available during the busier times.”
More information: Open Access at Bradley Stoke Library (SGC)
Enquiry responses from South Gloucestershire Council
Will any library services NOT be available to customers during unstaffed hours at Bradley Stoke Library?
“Initially we will have only part of the library open whilst we see how the system goes. Later, we will open the whole library to users. The only service not available during unstaffed hours will be the fax machine.”
Might staffed hours be reduced as a result of the Library Services Review that is currently being undertaken?
“No final decision has been taken on the opening hours; this is due at the end of February, but the preferred option from the ECS Committee meeting in September 2016 was to reduce the staffed opening hours at Bradley Stoke Library from 45.5 to 35 hours per week from 1st October 2017.”
When can we expect the results of the ‘Changes to Library Services Phase 2’ public consultation to be published?
“The consultation closed on 2nd January and the feedback is being assessed. That feedback will form part of the decision paper that will be considered by the Director of ECS when they make their decision, as delegated by the ECS Committee, in September [minutes]. The decision paper will be published before that decision is taken at the end of February.”
This is an amended version of an article that originally appeared in the February 2017 issue of the Bradley Stoke Journal news magazine (on page 15). The magazine is delivered FREE, EVERY MONTH, to 9,500 homes in Bradley Stoke, Little Stoke and Stoke Lodge. Phone 01454 300 400 to enquire about advertising or leaflet insertion.
