Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec (BAnQ) announced Friday it will gradually reopen its 12 locations across the province during the upcoming weeks, but no specific date was provided.
It will take the provincial archives’ staff a few weeks to ensure that all facilities and services meet health and safety requirements, both for employees and the public.
The provincial archives made the announcement soon after the Quebec Culture Minister Nathalie Roy issued a statement, advising that museums, public libraries, and movie theatre will be able to reopen to the public in Quebec as of May 29.
Starting in early June, BAnQ and its regional centres will once again start processing research requests by telephone and email.
The date when the archives will reopen their buildings to visitors will be announced later.
BAnQ has been closed since March 14.
Provincial and territorial archives
There has been no word on when other provincial and territorial archival centres anticipate reopening, although most are handling urgent inquiries during the temporary closure by telephone and email.
Library and Archives Canada
As for Library and Archives Canada, John D. Reid shared on his blog, Canada’s Anglo-Celtic Connections, a message from Librarian and Archivist of Canada Leslie Weir, who suggested they “are planning for welcoming back (their) users … likely during the summer.”
