Archive: these closures were announced in March 2020. For current library information, visit Derbyshire Libraries.

All 45 Derbyshire County Council-run libraries, Buxton Museum and Art Gallery, and the Derbyshire Record Office in Matlock closed at 5pm on 20 March 2020 as coronavirus restrictions took effect. The council’s two mobile libraries also stopped operating. A council bulletin said no reopening date had been set and estimated that the closure could last at least 12 weeks.

The council advised library users to keep borrowed items until their library reopened; the original report said fines would be waived. The proposed transfer of Woodville Library to community management, due on 17 April 2020, was postponed; the council later confirmed that the pandemic had delayed the transfer.

At the time, council leader Barry Lewis said: “We appreciate that libraries are regarded as a valuable community resource and we are sorry to have to take this significant action but we trust residents will understand that we have had to make this difficult decision to protect the health and well-being of residents, communities and staff.”

Derbyshire libraries began a phased reopening in July 2020; Buxton Library was among the first seven. See the contemporary reopening report and the council’s Woodville update.