Cebu City Rizal Memorial Public Library and Museum on Osmeña Boulevard will reopen on September 8, 2020. | CDN file photo
CEBU CITY, Philippines – After around seven months of being closed, the Cebu City Public Library will reopen its doors to guests starting tomorrow, Tuesday (September 8).
The city’s Public Information Office (PIO) made this announcement in an advisory issued on Monday evening, September 7, 2020.
However, they advised guests who would want to visit and stay in the library to follow the new rules imposed in observance of minimum health standards.
Rules
Aside from the mandatory wearing of face masks, face shields, and temperature check, library staff told guests that booking in advance would be required at least a day before their scheduled visit as operations would only be limited from Monday to Saturday and only from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Bookings could be done online through the city library’s official Facebook page, or through their landline phone, the advisory said.
The advisory also stated that only a maximum of 20 people inside would be allowed at a given time and that personal books, laptops, and review materials would not be permitted.
“Bags and other personal belongings are discouraged,” it added.
The library also instructed future visitors to request assistance from the library staff should they need to borrow books as bookshelves and book stack areas will be off-limits.
“Borrowed books should be returned in a dropbox provided, and cannot be touched for 72 hours for sanitation purposes,” they said.
“Computer section is temporarily closed. (And) storytelling and reading sessions should be done online only,” they added.
Authorities also told the public to present any valid I.D. and quarantine passes upon entering, and senior citizens and minors 21 years and below would not be permitted entry.
The city library, which became the country’s first public library to operate 24/7 in 2018, only reopened when Cebu City was placed under a modified general community quarantine (MGCQ).
The Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-MEID) downgraded the city to MGCQ last September 1. /dbs