Thursday 30 May 2019

Staffordshire Record Office opening hours consultation

From Staffordshire Record Office (https://www.staffordshire.gov.uk/Heritage-and-archives/homepage.aspx):

Staffordshire Record Office opening hours consultation

We need your views on proposed opening hours

In recent years demand for access to archives through personal visits to the Staffordshire Record Office searchroom has fallen from a peak of 9,409 visits in 2005/06 to 3,804 in 2017/18.

By contrast online use of the service has grown from 168,199 visitor sessions in 2005/06 to 964,353 visitor sessions in 2017/18. During consultation in 2015 the Archive and Heritage Service set out a new vision to increase online access and widen engagement activities. The Service is committed to delivering savings to meet the Medium Term Financial Strategy for Staffordshire County Council.

We currently open 37 hours per week, as follows:

Tuesday: 9.00 – 5.00 (8 hours)
Wednesday: 9.00 – 7.00 (10 hours)
Thursday: 9.00 – 5.00 (8 hours)
Friday: 9.30 – 4.30 (7 hours)
Saturday: 9.00 – 1.00 (4 hours)

We have monitored use of the current opening hours and found that:
Saturdays are not well used for public services but our events on Saturdays are well attended
Wednesdays are the busiest day of the week, but the evenings are not well used
The first and last hours of each day are the quietest
Mornings are generally busier than afternoons

From Monday 15 July 2019 opening hours will be reduced from the current 37 hours per week, to 25 hours per week. We would like to hear your views as to how these hours are allocated through the week. We are putting forward three options on which we would like your views, each of which has a slightly different focus. Please also feel free to suggest an alternative option, with the provison that the opening hours do not exceed 25 hours per week, as these are the resources available for the service.

Important note: whichever option is chosen and implemented, our existing volunteer groups will be unaffected by the changes, as their supervision and document production are not primarily dependent upon the duty staff in the reading room.

Options for the future

Option A (25 hours per week)
This option maintains opening on four weekdays, plus one Saturday per month.

Monday: Closed
Tuesday: 10.00 – 4.00 (6 hours)
Wednesday: 10.00 – 4.00 (6 hours)
Thursday: 10.00 – 4.00 (6 hours)
Friday: 10.00 – 4.00 (6 hours)
Saturday: 9.00 – 1.00 (one Sat per month) (1 hour)

Option B (25 hours per week)
This option concentrates opening on the three busiest weekdays, plus one Saturday per month.

Monday: Closed
Tuesday: 9.00 – 5.00 (8 hours)
Wednesday: 10.00 – 6.00 (8 hours)
Thursday: 9.00 – 5.00 (8 hours)
Friday: Closed
Saturday: 9.00 – 1.00 (one Sat per month) (1 hour)

Option C (25 hours per week)
This option concentrates opening on three weekdays, with a consecutive Saturday once per month.

Monday: Closed
Tuesday: Closed
Wednesday: 9.00 - 6.00 (9 hours)
Thursday: 9.00 – 5.00 (8 hours)
Friday: 9.30 – 4.30 (7 hours)
Saturday: 9.00 – 1.00 (one Sat per month) (1 hour)

To leave feedback and to vote on the consultation proposals, visit the archive's consultation page at https://www.staffordshire.gov.uk/Heritage-and-archives/Staffordshire-Record-Office-opening-hours-consultation.aspx

Chris

Pre-order Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed) for just £11.99 at https://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/Tracing-Your-Irish-Family-History-on-the-Internet-Paperback/p/16483. Details of my genealogical research service are available at www.ScotlandsGreatestStory.co.uk. Further news published daily on The GENES Blog Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.

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