Over the years Sligo County Council’s library services has been to the fore
in the introduction of the latest technology and best practice in the field of
librarianship. Sligo Library was the first section of the Council to introduce the internet
in 1995, along with the first cultural tourism DVD, also being the first in
Sligo to make publicly accessible WiFi throughout Sligo County Council’s branch
network in the early noughties, among many other initiatives.
An opportunity arose in 2014 for Sligo County Council’s library service to
engage in a pilot scheme to examine the feasibility of introducing the latest
trend in library practice namely “Open Libraries”. This opportunity has been
taken by Sligo County Council with a view to piloting the system in Tubbercurry
Community Library beginning in November 2014 for a twelve month period.
The main aim of Open Libraries is to increase access for individuals and
communities to public libraries and to improve library services. By increasing
accessibility we hope to improve upon the availability of our services to a
wider audience in the communities we serve; to audiences who for whatever reason
are unable to do so within the current opening hours.
Where the Open Libraries model has been rolled out in Europe research has
shown that new groups of users are able to utilise the services provided, in
particular, on Sundays and late evenings.The Open Libraries pilot will make Tubbercurry library facility available to
the Open Library members who are over 18 years of age between the hours of 8am
to 10pm seven days a week. For users of the service who still wish to interact
with a library staff member or Europe Direct Information Centre staff member,
normal staffing times will remain the same from Tuesday to Saturday outside of
which the library will be accessible to members who sign up for Open
Libraries.
The pilot will take place throughout 2015 and as with any pilot the Open
Library will be evaluated and adapted accordingly as the service is rolled out
over the twelve months of the pilot.
For more information on how to register & use this service please contact
Tubbercurry Community Library on 071 9111705.
