Fórsa has welcomed health department clarification of its advice on the need to quarantine library books, and says this should lead to a standard approach across Ireland’s local authorities.

The head of the union’s Local Government Division, Peter Nolan, said earlier correspondence from the department was confusing, and had led councils to adopt a variety of approaches to library safety measures.

The current health guidelines say libraries don’t need to quarantine returned books provided they have informed service users about the necessary safety procedures. These say that people should not borrow books if they are feeling sick, and that people using library services must wash their hands regularly.

They also require people who develop Covid-19 symptoms, after having borrowed from the library, to quarantine books at home for a 72-hour period after completing the necessary 14-day self-isolation period and being fever-free for five days.

Welcoming the clarification, Peter said the earlier steer had led to confusion. “This was a cause of concern to our members so it’s positive the new guidance unambiguously states the onus for quarantining books does not fall to library staff and instead is up to service users to ensure proper safeguards,” he said.

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