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Library Service

2006 was another busy year for Sligo Library Service where the calendar of events for the year reflected a host of different events, activities, presentations and exhibitions. Providing a quality service and a desire to promote and foster reading for all is at the core of the Library service.

1837 ORDNANCE SURVEY MAPS

During the year, Sligo County Library commissioned digital cartographer, Mr. Rainer Kosbi, to create an interactive map website, which would be of great interest to teachers, students, archaeologists and anyone interested in the history of Sligo. The website will enable users to explore, without charge and from their own home, every town-land in the county as it appeared before Famine times and to discover the existence and explanation of any antiquities in that townland. For this purpose each sheet of the Library’s 1837 Ordnance Survey County Sligo maps was sent to Dublin to be painstakingly restored and digitised. Then all the county’s townland names and sites of archaeological interest were listed and amalgamated into an extremely user-friendly database which will open up the past with today’s most up to date technology. To use the site, users simply go to the Library website www.sligolibrary.ie) and click on the (local maps collection) link. Then click on (search window) and use the first tip at the bottom of the page for a tutorial. This is the latest in a series of ongoing projects to make the Library’s wealth of local history material more accessible to the people of Sligo and those worldwide with an interest in Sligo. The maps were officially launched by the Cathaoirleach of Sligo County Council, Cllr. Jim McGarry in October.

LIBRARY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

A series of training sessions were provided for library staff on the Unicorn Library Management System which was upgraded during 2006. A hyperion module was also introduced which displays archival material in an easily accessible digitised format.

MAKING ACCESS HAPPEN

The first of a two-day training session for library staff in relation to the ‘Making Access Happen’ project for public library services all around the country took place in September. The day, which was facilitated by Ms. Maureen Gilbert, focused on providing services for people with disabilities.

LIBRARY DEVELOPMENT PLAN

The Library Development Plan 2006-2010 was presented to both Sligo County Council and Sligo Borough Council and adopted by the members of Sligo County Council. This document provides a strategic framework for developing the library services over the next five years. The Library’s vision is ‘to provide a responsive, accessible and inclusive Library Service for all our customers which fosters reading, stimulates the imagination and contributes to life-long learning and cultural recreation’.

WORK EXPERIENCE

Sligo Library received a number of requests during the year from second level students wishing to obtain work experience placements with the library service. A total of seven students were supported through this programme in 2006 and received placements at Sligo Central Library, the Reference and Local History Library and Tubbercurry Community Library.

BORROW BOOKS

The Borrow Books initiative, which was launched in January, is a service whereby members of the public are enabled to search across the Irish public libraries’ online catalogues to locate and request an item which is not held in the library where the person is registered. It is possible to request books, CDs, DVDs etc. via Inter-Library Loan by logging onto www.borrowbooks.ie and following the instructions provided. During 2006 a total of 221 items were supplied to other libraries and 243 items were supplied to Sligo Library Service from other libraries.

SCHOOLS LIBRARY SERVICE

The school’s van visited each of the primary schools in the county on two occasions during the year issuing over 13,000 books to the children concerned.

MIGRANT WORKER’S INFORMATION NIGHT

In March 2006 a very successful information evening aimed at migrant workers living in the Sligo area was hosted by The Omagh-Sligo Partnership. The evening aimed to provide migrant workers with important information which could assist them to overcome the challenges of living and working in County Sligo. Sligo Library Service was one of 20 organisations that participated in the evening. A multi-lingual approach was taken to the evening and Sligo Library provided information and a range of books for both adults and children in a number of different languages. The evening attracted over two hundred and fifty migrant workers from the Polish, Lithuanian and Russian communities and proved to be a highly successful way of imparting essential information to all who attended the event.

SLIGO CENTRAL LIBRARY, STEPHEN STREET, SLIGO

Early in the year, World Book Day 2006 was celebrated in style in Sligo Central Library with a visit from author and storyteller Liz Weir. A number of children from Sooey National School were invited to attend the session. In June, 170 junior infant children from the Mercy Primary and Scoil Ursula enjoyed a number of sessions conducted by storyteller Billy Teare. Billy regaled the children with stories, song and music.

In December author J.P. Rodgers, a native of Galway, conducted a ‘reading and signing’ session relating to his book ‘For the Love of my Mother’. The session provided a rare opportunity for book lovers to meet the author and discuss the work itself.

The ‘16 Rights for 16 Days’ exhibition highlighting the issue of Domestic Violence, was also displayed in the library during December.

TUBBERCURRY COMMUNITY LIBRARY

Writing Group

The Leyney Writers enjoyed a very successful year. The group held a number of literary evenings, including the inaugural ‘Tubbercurry Old Fair Day’ literary event over the August Bank Holiday weekend which attracted a large number of writers from County Sligo and beyond. Ocean FM’s ‘Arts House’ programme featured the writers on ‘The Third Sunday’ series in December joined by guest novelist Eoin McNamee as part of its 10th Birthday celebrations, the Arts Office will partner with Ocean FM to produce a unique series of radio programmes curated by writer Brian Leyden. During autumn, novelist, playwright and poet, Dermot Healy conducted a number of workshops in the library with writers from the South Sligo area.

A writing group aimed at children between the ages of 10 and 12 commenced in October. The group is facilitated by a member of the Leyney Writers, Mr. Don Urwin and they meet monthly.

BOOK CLUBS

Adult Book Club

Due to the tremendous success of the two library bookclubs, a third book-club, ‘The After-5’s’ commenced in September and continue to meet monthly. In January, the ‘Tubbercurry Bookworms’ featured on Ocean FM’s ‘Arts House’ discussing John McGahern’s ‘Memoir’. The ‘Active Retirement Association Bookclub’ continues to enjoy meeting monthly to discuss their ‘book of the month’.

Children’s Book Club

In February, a book club for children was set up with the intention of shadowing the 2006 CBI/Bisto Awards. Shadowing is a programme designed to encourage groups of children to read, analyse and debate the 10 short-listed titles for the CBI/Bisto Book of the Year Award. Each group is then asked to present its verdict on the book which it feels should win the overall award. The whole idea is intended as a fun and interesting experience for everyone, encouraging readers to think critically about literature. Shadowing highlights the titles which the children consider to be worthy winners of the CBI/Bisto Awards and also encourages them to read titles that they may have overlooked.

EXHIBITIONS

A number of exhibitions were on display throughout the year. A particularly unique exhibition of 20 ink and acrylic works on paper by Dublin based artist Boz Mugabe featured in the library during February and March. Inspiration was drawn from cave petroglyphs, primitive art and culture, burial rites and the visual documentation of world theology. A second exhibition of works by Boz was shown in October. The exhibition also comprised a collection of colourful cartoons compiled by Boz over the last number of years.

To complement the presentation on Michael Davitt, an exhibition commemorating the life of the father of the Land League movement was displayed in the library during the month of October.

PRESENTATIONS

A highly entertaining presentation entitled ‘The Golden Era of Ceili Music and Dance, 1955 – 1970’ was given in May by Mr. Brian Lawler who founded the Ardellis Ceili Band. National television commenced in Ireland in the early 60’s and the Ardellis was one of the first Ceili Bands to be featured on the new service.

In October, to celebrate the centenary of the death of Micheal Davitt, an illustrated musical lecture was organised entitled ‘Triumph over Adversity’. The lecture was provided by Mr. Donal Maguire. An integral part of the lecture was the inclusion of songs from Donal’s latest CD entitled ‘Michael Davitt – The Forgotten Hero?’

The annual open meeting for members of the public interested in studying through the Open University was held in October and presented by Mr. Pierre Tansey.

AUTHOR VISITS

A number of authors visited the library during the year.  During Children’s Book Festival, children were entertained by three different authors. These included popular Irish authors, Mary Arrigan and Claire Hennessy and Shropshire based author and performer Andrew Fusek Peters. In December, adults enjoyed the company of author and former member of ‘The Nualas’, Anne Gildea.

SUMMER ART CAMP

The last week in July was filled with a number of art camps aimed at children aged between 3 and 15 years old. The camps were facilitated by a local artist who looked at the subjects of illustration and design in children’s books. Over sixty young people participated and they proved to be immensely popular with everyone.

CHESS AND DRAUGHTS CLUB

The library chess and draughts club for children continued to go from strength to strength and a number of new members joined throughout the year. A competition was held in November and a club from neighbouring Charlestown participated in the friendly competition. The competition was enjoyed by all and was followed by a presentation of medals ceremony. It is envisaged that the club will participate in a number of other competitions which will be organised for the future.

SLIGO REFERENCE AND LOCAL HISTORY LIBRARY, BRIDGE STREET, SLIGO

A total of 5741 local history queries were handled by the Reference and Local History section and 14, 419 people used Internet facilities during 2006. A restoration project for maps and documents began with the local professional restoration of three maps of Sligo Port and the Garavogue River. A valuable insight into social conditions in Sligo of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries was obtained with the addition to stock of the Registers of Prisoners in Sligo Gaol between 1836 and 1939. These records were obtained from the Public Record Office and are accessible on microfilm.