9 October 2020
By Tom Collins
tom@TheCork.ie
Cork County Library Branches to benefit are Charleville receiving €20,707, Cobh €16,135, Fermoy €15,000, Skibbereen €41,031, Youghal €10,000 and Library Information and Communication Technologies upgrades which will benefit from €8,210 support.
The Minister for Rural and Community Development, Heather Humphreys TD, recently announced funding of €3million to support a small-scale Capital Works Programme in public libraries across Ireland. Cork County Council has successfully secured funding of €100,000 for Cork County Libraries which is to be matched by the local authority to the value of €11,084.25.
The funding, along with the library projects funded under the Libraries Capital Programme and the Rural Regeneration and Development Fund, sees a major investment in public library buildings across the country.
With the match funding from Cork County Council the total investment of €111,084 will facilitate a range of projects for public library upgrades and measures to respond and adapt to COVID-19.
File photo from April 9, 2020 showing
Anna Kelleally, Branch Librarian in Mallow, using sterile wipes on books before packing them into boxes. The boxes are then stored for 72 hours and picked up by the mobile library drivers who delivered the boxes to the homes of cocooned library members during the original COVID19 lockdown.
Pic: Brian Lougheed
Mayor of the County of Cork Cllr Mary Linehan Foley welcomed the news saying, “The value of our libraries as an essential community resource has been demonstrated repeatedly in recent months. The wide-ranging services your local library branch can offer is unique and the library has huge social value as shared public space. This departmental funding, with the matched funding from Cork County Council, will facilitate our library building to fully adapt to the new public health guidelines, to further advance their already fantastic digital offerings, and to continue in their role as essential community hubs well into the future.”
Works are due to commence in the libraries over the coming weeks and will be completed by end of 2020/early 2021.
