Townsville City Council has made the decision to close its CityLibraries, Perc Tucker Regional Gallery, community centres and venues and its customer service centre walk-in service at 103 Walker Street as it works to help slow the spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19). Council CEO Mike Chiodo said the decision comes following the Federal Government’s new social distancing restrictions that have closed pubs, clubs, gyms, sporting venues, entertainment venues, restaurants and places of worship.
“The stage one restrictions on social gatherings implemented by the Federal Government include a restriction on facilities. For Council, this includes three library branches, Perc Tucker Regional Gallery, our sports and community venues, including Townsville Civic Theatre,” he said. “These closures will be in effect from 6pm Wednesday. “CityLibraries has an extensive online library service, including e-books, audio books and movies, which can be accessed through the Council website and we are preparing to livestream events like exhibition openings and library story time to continue to engage with the community.
“This is an important social distancing measure to keep people safe and will hopefully assist in slowing the spread of COVID-19 in our community.” Mr Chiodo said closing this number of Council venues was unprecedented, but it was the right decision for Townsville. “We will also be restricting Council’s Customer Service Centre to being over-the-phone only. Planning applications will still be able to be submitted digitally, and council is preparing a physical drop off point for applications and survey plans to be physically submitted at boxes at Council,” he said.
“We want to do our part to keep our staff and community safe and slow the spread of COVID-19, and this includes following the new laws from the Federal Government. “The advice from the Federal Government is that these measures could be in place for up to six months. “Our staff members who work in these areas will continue with their jobs and in other areas of Council. Council is committed to supporting its staff through this period.”
For more updates on COVID-19, visit health.qld.gov.au.
How to use CityLibraries during the shutdown
- Loan periods extended to 80 days
- Loan limit increased to 80 books and 30 DVDs
- Livestreaming of events to be announced at townsville.qld.gov.au
- MiTownsville WiFi will still be available
- Free eBooks, eAudiobooks, magazines, movies and study assistance will be available via townsville.qld.gov.au