[ad_1]
SINGAPORE: All public libraries will allow users to spend up to three hours in their facilities starting next Tuesday (October 20) with capacity control measures and safe distancing, the National Library Board (NLB) said on Thursday.
Patrons can visit the Lee Kong Chian Reference Library and regional libraries, in Jurong, Tampines, and Woodlands, for up to three hours and two hours at all other public libraries.
Currently, each person is limited to a 30-minute and two-hour restriction at the public libraries and the Lee Kong Chian Reference Library, respectively.
“The length of stay at our facilities for each customer will be increased so that customers can spend more time reading, studying and working at our facilities,” said NLB.
Visitors will also be able to use study and seating areas in public libraries, including electronic and multimedia newspaper stations, but with limited capacity.
Secure management measures, such as timed entry and an online reservation system, will remain in place to ensure public health and safety are not compromised, NLB said in a press release.
More services will also resume, such as public programs, at the National Library building, 25 public libraries and the Oldham Theater at the National Archives Building in Singapore.
Guided tours remain suspended.
READ: Government working towards Phase 3, but Singapore will remain in DORSCON Orange ‘for now’: Gan Kim Yong
READ: COVID-19: More people allowed to return to the workplace, subject to conditions like capacity limits
Public screenings of films from the Asian Film Archive at the Oldham Theater will have an increased capacity of 50 people per screening for both theater and atrium. There will be up to two movie screenings per screening day.
Theater seating and intermixing between groups will still be subject to safe distancing measures.
Users visiting any NLB facility must wear their masks at all times. NLB said it will also frequently disinfect high touch points in its facilities.
“With the resumption of the programs, additional cleaning, sanitation and ventilation of the program areas will also take place between sessions,” the board said.
All of Singapore’s public libraries were closed on April 7, which was the beginning of the country’s COVID-19 “circuit breaker” period. They reopened on July 1 with shorter opening hours, as well as limits on the number of people allowed and the length of visits.
CHECK THIS: Our comprehensive coverage of the coronavirus outbreak and its developments
Download our app or subscribe to our Telegram channel for the latest updates on the coronavirus outbreak: https://cna.asia/telegram
