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Colleagues, I write under a pseudonym and ask to keep discussions open using the boards and twitter. I want to enquire as to how many archive services have temporarily closed their public services in the face of the virus outbreak within the United Kingdom. I am in an extremely difficult position. Being the only archivist for an organisation, there is pressure on me to keep the service open unless otherwise instructed / changes to government advice. However, I have a growing pressure to work remotely due to real family concerns. Unfortunately that will result in the closure of archive services certainly until after Easter. My difficulty is I have zero staff support to maintain any service, and my salary is linked to maintaining that service. I’ve already followed Government advice and asked stakeholders I know who have just returned from Europe, and those with a medical history, to postpone visits until after Easter. Indeed, on Monday I shall be recommending to management our closure until after Easter because the risk is growing for me personally & our stakeholders. Admittedly, archive work is difficult to perform remotely! Especially since many of our stakeholders are over 60, and we share a building with multiple workers with equal chance of exposure. Our services are also used by large amounts of local and international students from various universities. Like everyone, I am also worried about my salary by taking this action! As a profession, we all need to seriously question whether it is appropriate to be maintaining a justified open public service in present circumstances. It would be helpful if good archivist souls can use public forums such as twitter to have this conversation, or report if any archive services are closed. I have seen many American institutions use twitter to announce closure periods. I feel safer in justifying my actions if a number of fellow professionals / archive bodies are performing the same action. At the moment I might be imagining this, there feels like a dangerous desperate need to remain open within the United Kingdom, unless people actively stand up and close up shop (much like football clubs have). It’s just the right thing to do for our health and the public. How many people use the London Underground to reach the National Archives? Think about how our stakeholders reach our facilities, the people they are in contact with, the people we in turn are in contact at work and outside. Do we have justified reason to remain open whilst a climate of emergency surrounds us? Contact the list owner for assistance at [log in to unmask] For information about joining, leaving and suspending mail (eg during a holiday) see the list website at https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/webadmin?A0=archives-nra