Sligo County Library and Museum
Sligo Library service continued to grow in popularity in 2004 with membership increasing to 16,000, which is almost 28% of the population of the county.
The improvements to the branch network, including a successful marketing campaign, along with the broadening of services and activities within the library service have all contributed to the increased use of the Library.
While 28% of the county’s population are members, 23% of the population joined to borrow items while the balance of 5% use the library for services other than book borrowing. This is primarily the use of the Internet, reference, Information and local studies services.
In 2004, the latest phase of the Library computerisation was unveiled with the launch of the Library web site www.sligolibrary.ie and the switching on of our online reservation and renewal system. This online system will allow members with Internet access and a PIN number to search the Library database and check their online account with the library. Users of this service are also able to renew a borrowed item for an additional period and if the item they require is already on loan or in a different branch, they may place a hold on the item. In addition, our inter-branch delivery service has been upgraded, to reduce the waiting time for material on request between our branches, to three working days.
With the improvements in recent years of our branch infrastructure, the Library Service is now in a position to expand the extent and type of activities carried out within these modernised facilities.
The Calendar of Events provided by the County Library Service continues to expand and the response from our customers has been phenomenal. One of the highlights from our Calendar of Events 2004, were the workshops held in both Sligo City Library and Tubbercurry Community Library to celebrate the centenary of the Abbey Theatre.
| Library Membership 2004 | |
|---|---|
| Ballymote | 851 |
| Sligo City | 11,303 |
| Tubbercurry | 3,673 |
| Enniscrone | 960 |
| Total | 16,787 |
| Library Stock Issues | |
|---|---|
| Ballymote | 10,043 |
| Sligo City | 116,756 |
| Tubbercurry | 43,736 |
| Enniscrone | 10,074 |
| Local Studies | 3,207 |
| Total | 183,816 |
| Internet Sessions | 26,500 |
| County Museum Visitors | 3,282 |
TUBBERCURRY COMMUNITY LIBRARY
Tubbercurry Community Library registered an additional 1,217 new members during 2004. 75% of this number was adult and teenage members with the remaining 25% registering as juvenile members. Membership of the library up to the end of 2004 was 3417. The library issued 43,736 items during 2004.
Author Visits
In February, childrens’ authors, Liam Farrell, Aislinn O’Loughlin and Ann Carroll were invited in conjunction with Poetry Ireland’s Writers in Schools Scheme to conduct a number of sessions suitable for primary school children. In September, as part of the Scríobh Festival, writers Marie-Louise Fitzpatrick, Siobhán Parkinson and Maighread Medbh visited the library.
Workshops
Many different workshops were delivered during the year, including two Creative Writing workshops, one aimed at adults and one catering for children aged 10-12. Both were facilitated by an experienced writer and were of six weeks duration.
A six-week music workshop, aimed at pre-school children was held during February and March. It was facilitated by local musician and member of the band Cadenza, Anna Huston.
A number of art workshops were held throughout the year both for children and adults. The children’s workshops focussed on painting, printing, construction, clay work and collage, while the adult workshops concentrated on oils and watercolours.
A Felt-Making Workshop was held to complement the ‘Felt From The Heart Exhibition’, which was held in the library during May.
Donegal artist, Imelda Carroll conducted the workshop and presented the library with a beautiful piece of artwork, which was made during the workshop.
To celebrate 100 years of the Abbey Theatre, the library was involved in the Nationwide Libraries Programme, which was organised by the Outreach/Education Department of the Abbey Theatre. A drama workshop was held for adults in the library at the end of July. The workshop illustrated how the Abbey looked at every element of staging a play, from set design to stage properties, from composition to storytelling to ensure that a production arrives full of life on the Abbey stage. The workshop was facilitated by Mr. David Horan, Abbey Theatre Staff Director (2002-2003).
Exhibitions
In February, the library hosted an exhibition entitled ‘Antarctica’ which contained stunning images of the environment and ecology of Antarctica and placed special emphasis on scientific research.
Working in co-operation with Sligo County Council’s Environmental Awareness Officer Alice Reynolds, an exhibition was put together in April of photographs taken by local primary school children of the town of Tubbercurry. The photographs focused on areas which needed attention due to litter and neglect and also contained photographs of areas, which were an asset to the town. There was great interest in the exhibition and many members of the public called to see it.
May saw the arrival of the ‘Felt From the Heart’ exhibition which comprised 13 large felt panels made in 13 different places over 5 continents. The panels depicted the natural environment and cultural symbols, chosen by the children and young people involved, to represent their country. The whole piece provided a story of global nature through the eyes and hearts of young people. The panels were designed to fit a nomadic round tent structure, known as a ‘yurt’ that is traditionally covered with felt in its land of origin, predominantly Mongolia, Central Asia. The yurt is a circular structure,13-feet in diameter and 12 feet high, large enough to fit 10-15 adults and children comfortably at one time.
To celebrate the centenary of Bloomsday, June 16th 1904, the day on which James Joyce first walked out with Nora Barnacle, the library hosted an exhibition entitled ‘Mapping Joyce’. The exhibition outlined Joyce’s travels throughout his life and followed the parallel expansion of his literary influence across the globe.
The ESB Environmental Awards Photography Exhibition, which consisted of 60 award-winning images, was also on display during the month of June.
An exhibition entitled ’16 Days of Action’ highlighting the issue of domestic violence was held during December.
Lectures
In March, a presentation to complement the ‘Antarctica’ exhibition was conducted by Mr. Frank Nugent, author of Seek the Frozen Lands – Irish Polar Explorers 1740-1922. The lecture focussed on the considerable contribution by Irishmen to the exploration and charting of the Artic and Antarctic regions in the 18th, 19th and 20th Centuries.
The centenary of the birth of Seán MacBride, winner of the Nobel and Lenin Peace Prizes, was marked by a presentation by Mr. Tony Jordan in the library in November.
Shows
A number of shows on the theme of ‘Focussing on our Environment’ were held over the course of the year. The shows were aimed at children and the purpose was to emphasise the ‘Reduce, Reuse, Recycle’ message. One of these shows involved staging a puppet show where the puppets themselves were made from waste materials; another event featured a short play, which involved the children as actors in the production. Tim Roderick paid a visit to the library in March to make a presentation to children on ‘Irish Wildlife and Their Habitat’.
Michael Moylan visited the library on two separate occasions to conduct both his ‘Irish History Live’ and ‘Science is Magic’ show. Irish History Live is a show which combines storytelling with a unique opportunity for children to gain access to real tools, armour, weapons and costume of a given period in history. The ‘Science is Magic’ show allows children to experiment with heat, light, sound, magnetism and electricity. This show was conducted as part of ‘National Science Week’ in November. The shows were complemented by displays of associated books on both topics.
Storyteller Niall de Búrca paid two visits to the library during the year to conduct storytelling sessions for children. One of these visits formed part of the library’s week long summer camp in July and the other was held as part of Children’s Book Festival 2004.
Festivals
The library held a number of activities to celebrate national events such as Children’s Book Festival and Seachtain na Gaeilge. Events, which took place during ‘Seachtain na Gaeilge’, included an inter-school debate, between two of the local second level schools, a ‘ceol agus craic’ seisiún for primary school children and a comhrá for adults.
The library also held events as part of the Scríobh Festival held in County Sligo in September. Three authors writing for children visited the library during the week long festival.
Open Days
County Sligo Vocational Education Committee hosted an Adult Learners’ Week in May. As part of this week, the library hosted an open day, where a qualified Guidance Counsellor with County Sligo VEC was in attendance to offer information, guidance and direction to anyone in the process of selecting a course.
In early June, Tubbercurry Community Library hosted an open meeting for anyone wishing to gain information on undertaking a course of study through the Open University.
Ongoing Activities
Two adult library book clubs meet on a monthly basis todiscuss a pre-selected title.
An adults creative writing group, who now meet on amonthly basis, grew out of a ten-week creative writing workshop, held by the library.
A chess and draughts club for primary school children meet on a weekly basis from September to May.
