LOOK: Manila Library to Reopen for the First Time Since Pandemic

The Manila City Hall Library is reopening on Tuesday after nearly a year of being shut because of COVID-19 quarantines. 

Libraries along with cinemas, museums and arcades are among establishments that were recently allowed to reopen under strict health protocols. 

As seen in the following photos, the Ermita-based library's staff are gearing up for their own version of a "new normal", making sure tables are ready for socially-distanced reading and disinfecting books and shelves. 

According to Mylene Villanueva, officer-in-charge, the library will accept 20 visitors at a time, one third of its original capacity of 60. 

The library will be open from 7 am to 5 pm, Monday to Friday. 

Unlike the old normal, visitors won't be able to scan shelves by themselves, Villanueva said. They will have to come in with a list of resources already, which the librarians will look for themselves before delivering to their tables.

After use, books must be returned to a designated 'quarantine box' that will then be disinfected. 

For periodicals such as newspapers, borrowers will have to wear gloves as condition for use.