During 2008 the Director gave the following papers and presentations:
- ‘Participation and the Public Library network’, at the NESF’s ‘In the Picture or out of the Frame’ seminar, in Dublin in February.
- ‘Opportunities for Library Authorities’, at the Management Issues in Public Libraries (Senior Executive Librarians) course in Dublin in January, and in Galway in February. -’Branching Out: where you fit in’, at the Management Issues in Public Libraries (Executive Librarians) course, in Portlaoise in May.
- ‘Branching Out: Future Directions for Irish Public Libraries, 2008-2012′, at the 5th NAPLE Conference, in Vilnius in October.
The Director contributed an article entitled ‘Branching Out: a decade of achievements, 1997-2007′, to An Leabharlann: the Irish Library, vol. 17 (3), 2008.
On the invitation of Children’s Books Ireland, the Director officially launched Children’s Books Ireland’s If Kids Made the Reading Rules initiative in Trim Library in September.
The innovative poster contains twelve recommendations from children for parents, teachers, libraries, publishers, authors, booksellers and illustrators.
The poster was a project of Trim Library Book Club, working with author Conor Kostick and illustrator Alan Barrett.
Brendan Teeling, Assistant Director, made the following presentations during the year:
- ‘An introduction to An Chomhairle Leabharlanna’, to students of the Department of Library and Information Studies, UCD, in February.
- ‘Branching Out: where you fit in’, at the Management Issues in Public Libraries (Executive Librarians) course, in Dublin in May and September, and in Cork in September.
- ‘Sequels – the shape of things to come’, at the Library Association of Ireland Munster Regional Section annual seminar, in Cork in September.
- ‘Branching Out: where you fit in’, at the Management Issues in Public Libraries (Senior Executive Librarians) course, in Portlaoise in November.
Mr Teeling chaired a session and gave a presentation at the PLR International Seminar in Burcharest in September.
He was re-elected to the Executive Board of the Library Association of Ireland, and elected as Chair of the LAI’s Public Libraries’ Section.
Domitilla Fagan, Librarian, contributed an article ‘A space for the young: what public libraries offer to children’, in Inis, the journal of Children’s Books Ireland, (23), Spring 2008.