Sligo County Library Services
Library Strategy and Development
The Sligo County Library Development Plan 2001-2005 which outlines proposals to develop the library infrastructure and service provision, was adopted by Sligo County Council in November 2001. This Development Plan provides a platform to enable Sligo County Council to implement the Recommendations of the Department of Environment and Local Government’s Library Policy Document entitled ‘Branching Out: A New Public Library Service’.
An application to the Department of Environment and Local Government for a new library and Headquarters for Sligo was approved and a grant of £3.4m was allocated to the project. In 2001, Sligo County Council purchased a site on The Mall which will be the location for the new Sligo Community Library, Library Administration and Archive. This new site will form the nucleus of a cultural corridor with linkages to the nearby Model and Niland Centre. In order to ensure that the design will be a sympathetic and highly functional Library building, Sligo County Council will commission an International Architectural competition. The target completion date for the library building will be Spring of 2005.
Work commenced on the One-Stop-Shop in Tubbercurry, where a new Community library will be located. The library will open to customers in February 2003. Work also commenced on a new branch library in Enniscrone, which will open in April 2002. This development of Library infrastructure, will ultimately mean that new and improved services will be offered to our customers.
Education
2001 got off to an industrious start as Sligo County Library Service commenced its Reading Initiative ‘Bookemon’ project. The aim of the project was to raise awareness among children, their parents and teachers of the importance of reading and to promote reading as a fun activity. Six Primary schools in the western part of County Sligo were involved in the project, Owenbeg, Easkey, Killeenduff, Kilrusheighter, Highpark and Ballinlig. A Teacher’s Pack, which included material on encouraging children to read, ideas for creating classroom reading records and a recommended reading list was compiled and presented to each of the teachers in the participating schools. The project ran for 10 weeks, its objective was to nurture an interest among those children who, hitherto, did not choose reading as a pastime, whilst reinforcing the value of reading to children who regularly read. Many fun activities were organised and were centred on the books the children were reading. One of the schools was involved in designing a new livery for the library’s schools van. Authors, Tom McCaughren and Siobhan Parkinson visited the schools during the project and enthralled the children by reading from their books and talking to them about books and reading in general. The project also helped to reinforce links between teachers, librarians and parents.
75 primary schools in Sligo town and county were provided with a stock of books. A large selection of fiction and non-fiction books were specially chosen to meet the needs of children in the 4-12 age group.
In 2001, the library service continued its programme of facilitating second level Transition year students on work experience placements. Students, from local schools, are given an insight into the library working environment and an overview of the role the Public Library service plays within the Local Authority Structure.
Sligo County Library is committed to the philosophy of Lifelong Learning and with this in mind initial discussions were held with the Open University in order to explore how the library service might facilitate users studying Open University courses.
| Branch Libraries | Adult Membership | Juvenile Membership | Book Issues | |||
| Year | 2000 | 2001 | 2000 | 2001 | 2000 | 2001 |
| Sligo City | 5,185 | 5,700 | 2,520 | 2,570 | 89,738 | 90,919 |
| Ballymote | 228 | 296 | 299 | 318 | 10,020 | 10,576 |
| Tubbercurry | 110 | 135 | 219 | 245 | 4,318 | 4,212 |
| Enniscrone | 49 | 112 | 161 | 185 | 3,525 | 3,704 |
| Total | 5,572 | 6,243 | 3,199 | 3,318 | 107,601 | 109,411 |
- The table above represents the County Library Statistics for 2000 - 2001.
Information Technology
Free Library membership and free Internet access for members was introduced in 2001. Internet use among members proved to be hugely popular and in April an additional 8 computers were added to the Reference and Local History Section at the Westward Centre in Bridge Street, bringing to 16 the number of access points available to the public. A further 6 Internet access points available in Sligo City Branch and a total of 11,970 people accessed the Internet through the library service.
The library service also commenced the process of computerising its catalogue. The computer system chosen was Unicorn. The system is scheduled to be operational in the Sligo City Branch by October 2002, in Enniscrone Library by December 2002 and in Tubbercurry by June 2003. The new computerised library system will reduce queues at the public desk and will also allow for access to the library database through the Internet.
The Chairman and Director of An Chomhairle Leabharlanna (the Library Council) held a number of meetings with City and County Managers and County and City librarians during 2001. The meetings were organised on a regional basis, and provided an opportunity for discussion and the exchange of information between An Chomhairle Leabharlanna and the Library Authorities. On the 3rd of October 2001, Sligo County Council hosted the North West Regional Meeting, which was very well attended.
Culture and Heritage
4,113 members of the public visited Sligo’s Museum in 2001. Recent additions to the Museum include a painting of the "SS. Sligo" by C. Cookerham. The SS. Sligo was part of The Sligo Steam Navigation Company which was owned by the Pollexfen family.
The painting of the ship is currently on exhibition in the County Museum alongside a memoir written by Capt. Devaney, who was one of its crew members. This memoir gives a tremendous insight into the importance of Sligo’s maritime history and also provides us with a glimpse into the working conditions and life aboard the SS. Sligo.
County Museum Statistics
Year 2000
4,444 visitors
Year 2001
4,113 visitors
Primary Schools Service - 75 schools served
Internet - 11,970 users
Reference & Local Studies Library - 7,885 users
National Reading Initiative - 1,889 books issued
Information Services - 3,500 e-mail/telephone enquiries
