A phased reopening of local libraries will commence from July 4, Manchester Council has confirmed.
Eight selected libraries will initially welcome back customers on Tuesdays, Thursday and Saturdays from 11am – 3pm; with books reservable online from June 29.
Library visitors will be allowed 30 minutes of browsing; taking out a maximum of six books at any one time.
A limited number of computers will also be available to pre-book.
Hand sanitisers will be placed at each entrance, and every library will be taking care to restrict the number of visitors on site.
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Children aged 12 and under must be accompanied by a parent, carer or older sibling.
The eight Manchester libraries returning during the first phase are:
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Chorlton Library
City Library (at Central Library)
Didsbury Library
Gorton Library
Longsight Library
Newton Heath Library
Withington Library
Forum Library, Wythenshawe
With the exception of City Library, all these libraries will open an hour earlier at 10am on Tuesdays and Thursdays for residents aged over 60.
Any books taken out before quarantine have been renewed until the end of July – meaning borrowers will not incur fines.
Executive Member for Skills, Culture and Leisure, Councillor Luthfur Rahman, said: “Since the pandemic forced us to close our libraries in March, we’ve done everything possible to connect residents with books, information and activities online.
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“However, we’ve really missed seeing them and are keen to welcome them back to their libraries in person.
“This is only the start of the reopening process, which needs to be done in a careful and gradual way, but it is nevertheless an important step forward and one we’re looking forward to.
He continued: “Social distancing is still very much a requirement at all times. This is why, at this stage, we’re only able to open selected libraries for restricted numbers of visitors at a time, but we will be keeping this under review over the course of the summer.
“Nevertheless, this does mean that residents will be soon able to access our fantastic catalogue of books and free computer facilities once again. We will provide further updates as soon as we are able to safely reopen more libraries and extend opening hours.”
The Books To Go service for housebound residents also restarted earlier this month and will continue to deliver books to its customers every four weeks.
Elbow get behind campaign to save Jodrell Bank from closure
Danny Jones
Manc band Elbow are among the latest to get behind the campaign to save Jodrell Bank Observatory from closing permanently.
The Greater Manchester natives famously played a sold-out gig at the important scientific and cultural landmark for a very special live album recording well over a decade ago, and know all too well the site’s national and, indeed, global heritage.
Choosing the Observatory and the rare chance to perform a show in the shadow of the world-renowned James Lovell Telescope, it probably remains one of their most significant standalone UK date ever.
With that in mind, the local lads have been left just as worried by the news of its impending closure as everyone else, and have therefore issued a fresh appeal to help keep it open.
Posting a timely statement on social media, the group wrote: “Jodrell Bank has long been close to elbow’s heart. In 2012, the band played beneath the Lovell Telescope for one of the most memorable shows in our history.
“The recent news that funding for the e-MERLIN radio telescope network is set to end in 2028 puts the future of the scientific work at Jodrell Bank under serious threat. It is a remarkable place, with an extraordinary history, and one that continues to play an important role in science, culture and education.”
In addition to reliving clips and images from the historic live set all the years later, they also pointed people towards their ‘elbow – Live at Jodrell Bank‘ album documentary, which has now been made available online for the very first time as part of wider efforts to raise awareness around the cause.
Directing people to key online resources shared by the institution and astrophysics centre itself following their unfortunate update late last month, the push to not only find the funding but sustain support for the facility continues to ramp up throughout the world of science, arts and industry.
For anyone who somehow missed the news – 2028 being the current deadline handed down as per budget cuts across the sector – concerned parties here in the North West and all over the country have since started petitioning to save Jodrell Bank Observatory from shutting down for good.
In addition to being described as a “huge blow” to the field by the Royal Astronomical Society (RAS), some have even gone so far as to describe the decision as a form of “vandalism” when it comes to research and British culture as a whole.
Having also served as the host venue for the annual bluedot Festival since 2016, the multi-genre science and arts celebration could soon be forced to find a new home.
The battle is far from over yet, and the community has time to rescue Jodrell Bank Observatory from its fate, but it will take lots of money and more notable public figures to make it happen.
Once again, you can do your bit by signing the petition mentioned above right HERE.
Featured Images — Emma Farrer (via Wikimedia Commons)/The Manc Group
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All Greater Manchester boroughs to have 24-7 night buses from next month as new services launch
Emily Sergeant
Extra night buses, new routes, and more frequent bus services are being rolled out across the Bee Network at the end of this month.
You may remember that back in March, it was announced that every borough of Greater Manchester was set to get a night bus service in what is hoped to be a ‘boost’ to the night-time economy, and now plans to introduce these from September onwards have been confirmed by Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM), along with a series of other measures.
Oldham, Stockport, Tameside, and Trafford will all get a 24-hour bus service by next month, meaning every part of the region will have a night bus operating Thursday through to Sunday.
It’s expected that once the new services have launched, it will help around 625,400 people working in the night-time economy across Greater Manchester, as well as those out enjoying the region’s nightlife, TfGM has said.
Some of the other changes set to be introduced from next month include a selection of brand-new bus services, and more frequent buses during the day and at the weekends.
All Greater Manchester boroughs will have 24-7 night buses from next month / Credit: TfGM
There will also be better connections overall to key employment and leisure destinations like Manchester Airport, Trafford Centre, MediaCity, Middlebrook Retail Park in Bolton, Kingsway Business Park, and Logistics North.
“The Bee Network belongs to the people of Greater Manchester and it needs to work for every community,” explained Mayor Bev Craig.
“As we build it, we’re listening and responding to what residents want with the biggest set of improvements we’ve ever made in one go.
🚌 More improvements are on the way across the #BeeNetwork.
36 service changes will benefit around 740,000 people across Greater Manchester, helping more communities access reliable, convenient public transport.
“We’re bringing night buses to every borough, launching new routes and ensuring buses run more often in the mornings, evenings and weekends. In doing so, we’re making it easier than ever for people to get around the city region by bus, but we’re also supporting our businesses, whose staff and customers need a reliable and safe way to reach them.
“Almost three quarters of a million people live within walking distance of a bus route we’re improving over the next few months, and we’ll continue improving connections for even more communities based on the feedback we get.”
The Manc -
26th June 2020 
