COLICO

An Chomhairle manages the secretariat for COLICO (Committee on Library Co-operation in Ireland), a North-South body whose function is to optimise the collective value of the combined resources of Irish libraries for their clienteles.

The committee was established in 1977 and since 1994 has been the formal advisory body on library co-operation to An Chomhairle Leabharlanna, and the Library and Information Services Council, Northern Ireland (LISC).

COLICO also provides liaison between Irish libraries and the British Library, which is represented on the committee.

COLICO monitors and encourages co-operative projects on the island of Ireland and works towards providing and enhancing shared resources for library staff and users. Most Irish libraries co-operate with COLICO by providing data on their document supply and inter-library loans traffic which are included in the statistics published in the COLICO Annual Report.

An Chomhairle Leabharlanna manages the secretariat and provides other support to the committee including the publication of the annual report.