A local librarian told The Royal Gazette this week the closure of the Bermuda National Library could affect scholars attempting to research Bermuda-related subjects.

The library has been closed since February 14 despite plans for a May re-opening.

Works and Engineering minister C.V. (Jim) Woolridge recently said the public could use the Bermuda College library until the national library reopened.

But Bermuda College head librarian Daurene Aubrey said although they were trying to accommodate the public as much as possible, they did not have many of the materials found in the national library.

She added that university and graduate students seeking to do projects on Bermuda could run into problems if they relied on the college library's resources.

"Research is the main stumbling block,'' said Ms Aubrey. "We help to the extent we can, but it depends on what they're researching.'' "If people are trying to do serious research on Bermuda, we just don't have it,'' she added.

"This is a small island, and there was no sense in duplicating resources. But right now we feel inadequate.'' Ms Aubrey explained that the college library also did not have the newspaper collections found at the national library.

"No one foresaw that the national library would be closed for so long, but hopefully they may decide to digitise the newspaper collection so we have access to those types of materials in the future,'' she added.

Although she noticed more people coming into the college library to read magazines and other books, college library membership had not increased by any significant amount, Ms Aubrey noted.

Chief Education Officer Joseph Christopher said he understood that the library would open in time for the beginning of the new school year.

But he said in the event that the national library had not reopened by then, the children's library could accommodate the younger students.

And while secondary school students would not have the benefit of "extra facilities'', school libraries were in place for them to do their school work, he added.

But Community and Cultural Affairs Shadow Minister Trevor Woolridge said the Government would have to consider providing a "state of the art library'' for locals and visitors.

"Although the middle schools and secondary schools have libraries, it is essential that the country offer a first-class facility for the students to use,'' he said.

He added that the continued closure of the national library "undoubtably caused difficulty'' for those wanting to use the facility.