The café was closed to library users throughout Epiphany Term due to Covid-19 restrictions.
The café, known as the Small Island Cafe, will be open seven days a week. On weekdays the café will be open from 8am-8pm, and between 10am-6pm on weekends.
Library users who have booked to visit the Bill Bryson Library will be able to pre-order items through the café’s click and collect takeaway service.
The library is currently only open on weekdays from 9am to 8pm and weekends from 1pm to 5:30pm, having had its opening times extended to from 9am-8pm on weekdays on Saturday 6th March.
The Bill Bryson Library will be open for 22 hours a day, seven days a week from the start of Easter Term, Durham University today confirmed.
The library, colloquially known as the ‘Billy B’, is currently only open on weekdays from 9am to 8pm and weekends from 1pm to 5:30pm, having had its opening times extended to from 9am-8pm on weekdays on Saturday 6th March.
A Covid-19 update email sent today to all students and staff also stated that the new opening times will continue until the end of the “main assessment period” on Friday 4th June.
The new opening times will continue until the end of the “main assessment period” on Friday 4th June.
19th November, 5:30pm: Lateral flow test bookings available to all symptomless students from tomorrow
In emails circulated by college principals this afternoon, the University today announced that all students without any Covid-19 symptoms will be able to book lateral flow tests (LFT) from 10 a.m. tomorrow. The tests, which return a result via email within “one to two hours”, will first be available on Tuesday 24th November and will be available seven days per week.
The booking system on DUO will become accessible once a student has passed a 10 minute tutorial and quiz on the same website, and the University recommends reserving two tests seven days apart, with the second occurring as close to one’s scheduled return home as possible, in order to maximise reliability.
Former Durham University Chancellor Bill Bryson was officially declared a National Treasure by the Association for the Promotion of Increasing Literacy this morning. He joins Sir David Attenborough, Mary Berry, and Jaffa Cakes, all of whom have also received the award in the past decade.
The awarding-winning author told
Palatinate: “This is the greatest honour that has ever been paid to me that didn’t involve money.”
Following the announcement, the Bill Bryson Library, known affectionately as “the Billy B”, was declared a World Heritage site by UNESCO. This is in recognition of its unique and impressive architectural style, as well as in honour of its eponymous writer.
The handling of the Covid-19 pandemic has been, at best, unclear. Government policy has been widely considered ambiguous, which has trickled down into university guidance. Durham University has fallen into the same trap as the government, giving out unclear instructions and uneven punishments to students. Torn between wanting to make the most of their university experience or following the government rules to “Stay at Home”, students have been treated both without empathy and without clear guidance by those at national and university level. Students may well have misinterpreted guidelines, in some cases deliberately, but the root of the problem is the inconsistency of Durham’s Covid-19 policy.