29 October 2020

Leslie Weir Responds on Reopening 395 Wellington

UPDATE

"On November 17, eight months after they closed, our consultation and research rooms in Ottawa will partially reopen to the public. Strict sanitary measures have been implemented, and a very limited number of spaces will be available."

Sharing an email exchange with Librarian and Archivist of Canada Leslie Weir.

Good day Leslie

People in my circle are very puzzled regarding the situation regarding public access at 395. The video showed all kinds of preparations being made months ago. The other LAC locations have been open for months. Other GLAM institutions in Ottawa reopened on a limited basis. What is holding back limited reopening at 395?

I hope you can provide updated information I can share with my blog community.

On Wednesday I received this response.

Good afternoon John,

As you point out, we have been working at planning and implementing a gradual and very cautious reopening of the services we had to close on March 14th.

On August 12, a limited number of staff began to return to the worksites, and we started to gradually resume the onsite and online public services we had to close. We resumed copy services (online orders only) and responses to Access to Information and Privacy (ATIP) requests, although at a reduced capacity. We are now also able to provide enhanced remote reference services, as staff are on site and have greater access to the collection. We reopened our Vancouver Research Room (September 1st), followed by our Winnipeg and Halifax services points on September 15.

We have recently been putting the final processes and protocols in place to be able to reopen onsite services at 395 Wellington in a limited and safe manner. You can expect a public announcement shortly, should the health situation in Ottawa remain stable.

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