As the Covid-19 lockdown continues to ease, Biddulph Library will soon be able to open its doors again as Staffordshire's 43 libraries begin their phased reopening next month.

However, Biddulph Library will be one of the last of the libraries managed directly by Staffordshire County Council to reopen, having been scheduled to begin welcoming visitors on Monday, 27th July.

The first of the libraries to reopen will be those in Burton, Newcastle and Stafford on Monday, 6th July, with the other 13 libraries managed directly by the county council following two and three weeks later.

Cannock, Leek, Lichfield, Perton and Tamworth libraries will open on Monday 20th July, while Burntwood, Codsall, Kidsgrove, Rugeley, Stone, Uttoxeter and Wombourne libraries will join Biddulph in reopening on the 27th.

Community managed libraries, on the other hand, are being encouraged by the county council to reopen at their own pace.

Gill Heath, Staffordshire County Council's Cabinet member responsible for Libraries, said: "This is not a return to normality, but a welcome step towards it as we begin to carefully reopen much-loved library buildings.

"Hand sanitising, hygiene and social distancing arrangements will all be in place and if Personal Protective Equipment is necessary it will be distributed to staff and volunteers where appropriate.

"We will be running an 'order and collect' service to start with – so no browsing – and there will be limited numbers of visitors allowed in at any one time."

Meeting rooms will remain closed and there will be no access to toilets, PCs, printers, photocopiers, or bus pass renewals in person.

Although there will be no physical events or activities in the buildings, online service and social media engagement will continue.

All libraries will initially open from 10am - 4pm Monday to Friday and 9am - 1pm on Saturday.

Gill continued: "We need to go about this carefully to ensure users, volunteers and staff are safe and people will need to use common sense and observe the spirit of social distancing when they visit.

"We are opening three larger libraries first to see how all the safety measures work in practise before incorporating any lessons into the gradual opening of the remainder.

"We have been communicating with the 27 community managed libraries during closure and are sharing reopening plans so that all our libraries have the same procedures in place."

"We are supporting them throughout the process and expect them to begin reopening from August onwards."

The county's libraries already have a home delivery service for those unable to visit, and this is being extended to include those who are currently isolating.