Our Phased Approach to Re-opening GWL

Since the closure of the GWL building on 19th March due to Covid-19, all GWL Staff Team members have been working from home to rethink and reshape our events and activities into digital formats, continue to support our volunteers and Adult Literacy learners, and work together as a team, with our Board of Directors, to plan as far as we can for the future.

While we can’t wait to be able to welcome you back to our beautiful building, the safety and wellbeing of our staff, volunteers and visitors must be our top priority, and there is a lot of work involved in preparing to re-open.

We will therefore re-open GWL to the public in phases, with the first phase starting on 1st September.

During this phase, there may be limits on days or hours of opening, visitor numbers, and access to some parts of the building. Access to the lending library collection will be via a pre-reserve / ‘click and collect’ system, while access to the archive and museum collections may still not be possible during this phase. We do not anticipate hosting any public events in the building for the rest of this year, but will continue to offer online events. We will of course review the situation throughout this period, and we will always make sure that visitors are given the special GWL warm welcome regardless.

In the meantime, some GWL team members will be on-site throughout July and August, working to implement safety and hygiene measures, and creating workable systems and spaces for everyone. The GWL team is working so hard behind the scenes to ensure that we are ready, steered not just by Scottish Government guidance and legislation, but also by some Guiding Principles that we have developed together at GWL to define our approach, as an intersectional feminist organisation, to the phased re-opening of GWL in line with our Core Values.

These Guiding Principles, along with our Strategic Plan, and our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Action Plan, are informing two further new documents:

• A specific Covid-19 ‘Risk and Opportunities Register’ (a practical document to identify potential hazards, their likelihood and mitigation strategies, and opportunities that may arise);
• A ‘Phased Return Plan’ (a practical document that clarifies and maps how, and in what stages, we will re-open, and communicates this to the outside world).

We will share more specific details and keep you up to date about our phased return plans over the coming weeks, but in the meantime please be reassured that while our building remains physically closed, GWL is digitally open.

We are continuing to run events online throughout the Summer, including Story Cafes, creative writing workshops and reading groups, and we will be launching an exciting and varied Autumn programme of online events in September. Visit our events calendar to see what’s coming up: Upcoming Online Events.

Please do keep in touch with us via our website and social media – you can find us on Facebook, Twitter (@womenslibrary) and Instagram (@womenslibrary).

You can also join our mailing list for monthly updates, or email us at info@womenslibrary.org.uk with any questions, comments or concerns.

We thank everyone for their continued patience and support during these times – never has this been more important to the future of GWL.