The Prime Minister has announced tougher national restrictions in England from Thursday 5th November as part of the UK’s pandemic response. We have provided this statement in response to the new restrictions being put in place by HM Government and those already in place in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

CILIP is committed to ensuring the safety and wellbeing of our members, as well as the users they support. We notes that the global pandemic response presents no easy options and that short-term decisions to protect the public must also be balanced with the longer-term impact of significant economic downturn in terms of unemployment and the mental health and wellbeing of the population.

Our Statement includes the following key points:

• We call on HM Government to make use of data and evidence to drive pandemic response


• We urge the Government to work with us to bring forward a public programme of support for health, digital and information literacy, so that individual citizens can be empowered to make informed choices about their welfare and the safety of those around them


• We welcome the recognition in the new Regulations for public libraries in England that they constitute ‘essential services’, including the provision of public access computers and IT;


• We note that library services in educational settings (schools, colleges and Universities) are to remain open and call on employers to undertake all necessary risk assessment and protective measures to avoid exposing library staff to undue risk

Commenting on the statement, CEO Nick Poole said;

“We absolutely welcome the recognition of public libraries by HM Government as ‘essential services’. It has been great to support the huge increase in public interest in books and reading during lockdown. The exemptions announced today for public libraries recognise our wider role in keeping people safe, informed, connected and entertained during the pandemic.

At the same time, we need to ensure that our national pandemic response is driven by evidence and informed decision-making rather than politics. That’s why we’re calling on Boris Johnson and the Cabinet to work with us on a national programme to boost media and information literacy – empowering the public to make better use of information to keep themselves safe at this critical time.”

You can download the full CILIP Statement on COVID-19 here.