Doors Open For West Oxfordshire Libraries, Even After Hours

    Apr 15, 2019 | News

    Commercial doors for West Oxfordshire libraries
    A new and exciting, large-scale contract we have been successful in procuring is from Oxfordshire County Council who are keen to give residents 24 hour access to their libraries, regardless of opening hours. With the collaboration of Bibliotheca and us here at BH Doors, we are doing just that. Here’s how.

    Libraries are indispensable hubs

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    Bibliotheca is a corporation that was formed from a collaboration of industry leading companies in order to develop solutions that would help sustain and grow libraries around the world.

    With currently 30,000 libraries as part of their portfolio, they believe libraries are indispensable hubs that are essential for communities to encourage creativity, collaboration and life-long learning among their citizens.

    In the UK, however, with budgets decreasing and physical library usage not what it used to be with the assistance of the internet, it may seem plausible to reduce opening hours, if not close particular buildings – it would be such a shame to see libraries, where thousands of kids learnt to read and fondly remember their trips to pick books, close though wouldn’t it?

    Fortunately, Oxford County Council has decided not to take that route, and instead are bringing in the help of Bibliotheca and BH Doors to implement systems and solutions to support the existence of our libraries.

    More than self-serve kiosks – Unrestricted access

    Having already completed work in Summertown, Eynsham and Grove libraries, it’s easy to see the benefits of unrestricted access for registered card users; they are now free to self-educate, use the facilities or simply take a break as and when they wish.

    Ensuring the safety, security and accessibility of our libraries, irrespective of whether the establishment is officially open or not, is made possible with a few innovative ideas, such as 24/7 visual monitoring, self-service lending facilities and automated broadcasts to announce useful information to visitors. For more information visit the Bibliotheca website.

    Ensuring safe access, day or night

    From our perspective at BH Doors, we facilitate the physical accessibility of the premises; ensuring access through automated doors whilst also being able to accommodate customers with disabilities.

    We install digital mechanisms that administer entrance upon producing library registered cards and as standard we perform a risk assessment and follow safety checklists from the very beginning of each project, in the hope of avoiding any accidents.

    Embedding doors with sensors avoids customers and their belongings becoming trapped, and potentially injured, as a result of premature closure.

    With staff offsite, accidents and injuries need to be avoided at all costs, therefore, as a precaution, we also install finger guards to eliminate the risk of lodged fingers in hinges and pivot points.

    With Oxfordshire’s renowned historical architecture, we regularly expect to adhere to restricted modifications upon National Heritage buildings, and this project is no different.

    Consequently, we have, and will be, implementing automated access without compromising the high standards or historical importance of the libraries.

    For more information on how we can help you improve or enhance your entranceways, give us a call on 0808 120 0911 or send us an enquiry.