Supporting our community

Initiatives developed in response to COVID-19

CBay fitness team (via Facebook) posted a daily fitness challenge to help people remain active during lockdown

Offered the ability to join online for digital membership – valid for 12 months
Promoted their existing online resources:
- e-books
- e-audio
- movies
- newspapers
- magazines
- Ancestry.com
- LinkedIn Learning (online courses)
Library offering a click/call and collect service during period of closure due to upgrades
Launched a Library App – people can search the Library’s catalogue and manage their account from their mobile device
Ran some Online Story Times through lockdown
Provided lists of free activities people could do in their bubble and shared on Facebook website
Ran a Lockdown Poetry Competition
Increased limit on Kanopy titles that borrowers could access – increased from 10 titles to 15 titles per month
Increased purchase of e-book, e-audio and consortia purchases
Free holds, extended loans, no overdue fines during Covid-19
Tutorials online for digital platform usage
Increased usage of Branch Libraries as Timaru Library is closed
- borrowers exploring the whole district library service (has increased expenditure in Temuka and Geraldine from Timaru people)
Change in Timaru Library opening hours when the library reopens
- 9am – 6pm Monday – to Friday
- Saturday and Sunday hours remain the same
More staff available during the day to provide help and increased outreach programmes (community room)
Supporting local contractors for project work
As of the new fees & charges there will no longer be overdue fines on Children’s books moving forward

Brought their content into digital formats such as digital exhibitions, sharing stories on their website, Instagram and Facebook
Uploading art education guides, recreational colouring-in works from the collection
Staff posting their insights into their home collections, their personal art practice and highlighting their favourite works from the collection, sharing their creativity during lockdown and their processes
They also created a Faces of South Canterbury project which is documenting the lockdown – getting people to send in selfies of them and their bubbles during lockdown. Great way to get people involved via Facebook/Instagram etc

Education team worked to develop remote learning modules for schools to use Museum resources
Posted video guides on holiday lockdown activities for kids
The Museum team have continued to develop material for people to enjoy on the Museum’s Facebook page and have added historical information, education resources, ANZAC heritage themed pages and videos onto the website
Museum weekend staff and volunteers have now added over 15,000 biographical entries onto the births/deaths/marriages database, while working from home

Emergency requests (e.g. broken tobies, sewer breaks etc.) continued to be safely addressed
Council facilities were made safe to prevent infection (e.g. roping off playgrounds, park closures etc.)

Please find our printer friendly version below:

Last updated: 24 Feb 2021