In this issue:

• Director of An Chomhairle retires;


• A New chapter for Irish Library News;


• LGMA Libraries Development;


• Report published on library authority budgets for 2012;


• Ghost Light tops the most-borrowed chart for 2011;


• 250 children participate in National Engineers Week across Carlow Library Service;


• Minister Officially Opens €1.6M Cultúrlann Sweeney in Kilkee;


• Clare County Library’s branches emerging as Facebook favourites;


• Cork County Library gets crafty!;


• Cork hosts Indexing, an exhibition on Sherkin Island;


• Dublin City’s customer focused response to unemployment;


• One Book One Ballyfermot – 2012;


• Can teenagers and senior citizens get along in the library?;


• News from Kilkenny Libraries;


• Seachtain na Gaeilge @ Portlaoise Library;


• Mountmellick Library hosts workshops with Artist Tomás O’ Maoldomhnaigh;


• New Sensory Room for Mohill Branch Library;


• Sean OSuilleabhain retires as Leitrim County Librarian;


• James Clyde and the Diamonds of Orchestra Book Launch in Monaghan Library;


• Xin Nian Kuai Le, or… Happy New Year;


• South Dublin Libraries Rewind;


• Remembering the 1911 Wexford Lock-Out;


• Titanic Fever throughout Wexford;


• McGrath Barrett & Associates Spring Training.

It’s not all about computer games and TV for Irish children as reading continues to be one of their favourite pastimes.

Figures released by An Chomhairle Leabharlanna show that children’s authors dominated the ‘most-borrowed-from-the-library’ lists in Ireland’s 350 public libraries in 2011.

Eight children’s authors made it into the top ten ‘most-borrowed-from-the-library’ list for last year, with Roderick Hunt, author of over 300 titles in the Oxford Reading Tree series, the most popular for the third successive year with over 125,000 library loans.

Classic stories continue to delight today’s children with stars such as Enid Blyton, Roger Hargreaves and Roald Dahl in the top ten, alongside Daisy Meadows, Francesca Simon, and Jacqueline Wilson. Adam Blade, author of 60 books in theBeast Quest fantasy series, entered the top 10 for the first time.

Prolific US writer James Patterson is the most popular adult fiction author for the second successive year with almost 74,000 library loans. Another American favourite, Nora Roberts, who also writes as J.D. Robb, is the second most-borrowed general fiction author with over 54,000 loans.

Irish writers and illustrators, both children’s and adult, are attracting lots of Irish readers, with 15 featuring in the top 100.

Darren Shan, author of horror and fantasy books which have sold close to 15 million copies worldwide, is the most popular Irish author for the third year running.

Joseph O’Connor’s Ghost Light, Dublin City’s ‘One City One Book’ for 2011, was the nation’s most borrowed book last year.

Reacting to the news, Mr O’Connor said:

I’m deeply honoured that Ghost Light is the most borrowed book of 2011, and I offer a heartfelt thanks to my readers for making it so. All my life since childhood I have been a lover of our libraries. My novels have been researched in them, and I have many times been the beneficiary of the exceptional professionalism and helpfulness of our librarians. Now more than ever, I am proud to support the libraries and the wonderful work they do for their communities up and down the land.

Fiction continues to dominate and works by Irish authors are very popular, with 34 making it into the top 100. Room, the international bestseller and award-winning novel by Emma Donoghue is the second most borrowed fiction book by an Irish author.

The lists are compiled by The Library Council from information supplied to the Public Lending Remuneration (PLR) Scheme by all public libraries in Ireland.

10,229 authors resident in thirty-six countries were registered for Irish PLR in 2011. €179,047.46 was paid out to 4,047 authors in respect of their total library loans. Twelve authors received the maximum payment of €1,000, and the rate-per-loan was 5.21 cent.

Commenting on the third year of PLR, Mark Dearey, Chairman of The Library Council, thanked the country’s librarians for their co-operation in the scheme:

Irish public libraries are becoming even more popular each year as the 17 miilion visits and 15 million books borrowed show. Public library staff around the country should be very proud of the service they provide.

PLR is funded by the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government.

Applications are invited from library authorities for funding under the Writers in Libraries Scheme,  for projects to run during 2012.

The general theme for this year’s funding is ‘Reaching the Hard-to-Reach’, people and communities who are less likely to use public libraries and/or who face particular barriers to accessing public library, cultural, and education services.

The hard-to-reach include, for example, the over-55s; reluctant readers; people who don’t use libraries; people with poor experiences of formal education and people who are live in socio-economically deprived areas.

Partnership is once again a key criteria and projects involving the community and voluntary pillar would be particularly welcome.

Details of the criteria and how to apply are available on this website and may be downloaded as a PDF.

For more information about making an application please contact Jane O’Hanlon in Poetry Ireland.

The Writers in Libraries scheme is co-funded by An Chomhairle and the Arts Council, and managed by Poetry Ireland.

Public Consultation – Review of Part B (Fire Safety)  – Building Regulations 1997 – 2006

The Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Mr. Phil Hogan,T.D., announces the commencement of a comprehensive review of Part B (Fire Safety) of the Building Regulations and the 2006 edition of the related Technical Guidance Document B.

As part of the review there will be an initial public consultation process and as part of that process the Minister now invites submissions:

1. identifying those elements in Part B (Fire Safety) of the Building Regulations and Technical Guidance Document (TGD) B which require amendment/revision; and;
2. specific proposals for changes in the elements identified at (1) above.

Relevant submissions will form an important input to the drafting of proposals for amendment of Part B of the Building Regulations and revision of TGD B to be published, for public / industry comment, in 2012.

In order to assist the Department in the compilation of submissions and comments, respondents to this consultation are kindly requested to use the comment form provided below.

• Part B 2011 Review – Template for submission of comments (xls,15kb)
• Building Regulations (Amendment) Regulations 2006 (doc, 49kb)
• Current Technical Guidance Document B (Fire Safety) (pdf, 1,340kb)
  

Comments should be forwarded, not later than 12 noon on Friday 24th February, 2012 in writing or by e-mail to:

Claire Darragh,
Architecture / Building Standards Section,
Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government,
Custom House,
Dublin 1.

Tel: +353 (0)1 888 2893
Fax: +353 (0)1 888 2693
E-mail: buildingstandards@environ.ie
Please note that all submissions and comments submitted to the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government for this purpose are subject to release under the Freedom of Information Acts 1997 and 2003.

In this issue:

• Minister announces additional €2.5 million in grant aid for libraries;
• Science Week 2011;
• Children’s Book Festival 2011;
• Girls’ Night Out at De Valera Public Library to celebrate Ennis Fashion Week;
• 2012 Book Club of the Year Award Launched in Ennis;
• Launch of Online Poetry Journal;
• “Your Good Self “, the North Cork Positive Self Help Programme;
• Walkinstown Library: 50 years serving the community;
• Fingal County Libraries get back to nature!;
• Historic Graiguenamanagh;
• Roscommon opens a new chapter;
• Books Mean Business in South Dublin Libraries;
• Teens Dive in to South Dublin Libraries;
• A new book by 3 and 4 year olds in Waterford;
• Dungarvan Library supports literacy project for primary school children;
• NUI Maynooth Library Receives Death Row Correspondence;
• EU migrant survey on the use of ICT;
• An insight into Spanish libraries;
• Fellowship 2012, Old Library and Historical Archives of the Irish College, Paris;
• First Libraries Participating at NAPLE Sister Libraries Programme announced;
• LAI Academic & Special Libraries Section Annual Seminar 2012;
• National University of Ireland Irish History Awards 2011.

An Chomhairle has just published a report on the statistics of public library annual actual expenditure for 2010.  A PDF of the report can be downloaded here.

In addition to the €5.8 million funding for the new Library Capital Programme announced in July earlier this year, the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Mr Phil Hogan T.D, has recently announced further funding for 6 library projects in 6 library authorities. €6.8 million will be spent by the six Local Authorities on improvements to the library services for which the Minister is providing €2.5 million in grant aid.

Below is the list of projects to be funded:

An Chomhairle has published a report on the Frontline online reader development programme which has been offered to all public library staff since 2008.

Frontline, developed by Opening the Book and tailored for the Irish context, has been a great success with 591 public library staff taking part in the three years up to June 2011.

24 library authorities have renewed their subscriptions to Frontline and it is expected that 150 more staff will complete the course in the coming year.

The report can be downloaded from our publications page.

Recently uploaded to our publications section is An Chomhairle Leabharlanna’s Submission to the Department of Children and Youth Affairs Statement of Strategy 2011 -2014.

You can read it here.