Minister visits Tullamore to launch two library initiatives

Minister of State for Housing and Urban Renewal Damien English announced two library initiatives during a visit to Tullamore Library on Monday. 

The initiatives were ‘My Open library’ -which is already being piloted at Tullamore and Banagher Libraries since 2014- and the ‘Summer Stars Reading Programme’.

Minister English announced the launch of a call for proposals from Local Authorities to implement the ‘My Open Library’ initiative which extends public library opening hours during unstaffed hours, while continuing to provide regular staffed times for ongoing delivery of service, supporting customers, developing community engagement and hosting events.

The ‘My Open Library’ initiative is operated through self-service from 8am to 10pm, 365 days a year, outside of staffed hours. Meeting rooms and community space is also made available for use. The Department of Environment, Community and Local Government will be providing over €2.3 million for the initiative over the coming years.

The Minister described the initiative and said “it means that the public and communities will have access to this invaluable local resource when they need and want to use it most. This will strengthen the prominence of the library in the local community and position it as a focal point for community engagement.”

He also announced the roll-out of a new Summer Stars Reading Programme, which will run in libraries throughout the country this summer.

“Reading opens up a world of imagination and opportunity. Encouraging children to read is vital. It helps them to develop and, if nothing else, will provide them with a pastime that will stand the test of time.

So I encourage parents to bring their children to the local library and participate in the programme. Indeed, library membership is free for everybody now – so there’s no excuse not to visit,” Minister English remarked.

This summer over 75,000 children in Ireland are expected to take part in the public libraries’ national summer reading programme, Summer Stars. Each child will pick a number of books to read and join other children at fun reading activities held in local libraries across the country.

With younger children, just talking about the story, the pictures in a book and the characters, and making connections from these to the child’s own life can particularly improve their emotional development, confidence and understanding of the world. The advantages that children get from regular exposure to reading material in their early years have also been found to last throughout their lives.

The Summer Stars reading programme in public libraries is free and open to all children.

Each child simply keeps a record of the books they read and gets recognition for each step along the way. At the end of the programme, all children who participated will get a certificate of achievement at a special awards event.

Summer Stars provides the whole family with an opportunity to explore the full range of events and facilities which are available in their local library: story time sessions, book clubs, children’s activities, access to talking books and games, workshops, computers and internet access, and of course children’s books for all ages.

For further information, contact Libraries Development, Local Government Management Agency at librariesdevelopment@lgma.ie or your local library (see details on www.librariesireland.ie).