More than books - Kilkenny libraries are at the heart of communities

Every time I pass the new city library, in Irishtown, I can’t help but admire not only the building that has gone up, but the way our library service has grown and adapted with society. It’s something other services and businesses could learn a thing or two from.

It might be hard for some younger readers to imagine, but it’s not that long ago that a library in any Irish town was simply a very quiet room full of books. Very quiet. In fact, if you made a noise above a whisper there was probably an elderly lady (elderly to a small child’s eyes anyway) who would give a stern look or a shh!
There are probably some of us, above a certain age, who still try to speak very quietly, if we have to speak at all, when inside a library.

But in the last few decades even the meaning of what a library is in an Irish town has completely changed. Despite the dire warnings of the 90s that books were ‘on the way out’ in favour of digital entertainment and ebooks, the library movement is now stronger than ever.

The main reason for this is that libraries took their core raison d’etre - knowledge and storytelling, and broadened it out into all the possible ways we can learn and be entertained by stories and words.

Today a library is a community centre that embraces internet technology, audio books, movies, heritage, children’s activities and even community meetings, while still providing books on shelves and an outreach, mobile library service in rural areas. It can be a centre of essential support to its members.

For example, Urlingford Library has installed a laptop borrowing service for members. Thanks to funds raised by a number of local groups who saw the need for the technology during lockdown, the laptops can be used my members and students.

Libraries are now a home for everything from Irish language conversation to coding classes.
One of the invaluable services provided by the library is the access to historical documents at the Local Studies section. The Kilkenny-related collections are a great resource. It’s also fascinating to scroll through the newspaper archives, accessible for free through computers at all libraries. Looking for a report about a friend’s great-uncle in World War 2, I came across an advert for my own grandfather’s new business. A part of my family history I never knew about.

I’m a proud library member, but I haven’t been inside the door of a library for many months, despite a voracious appetite for books! This is thanks to the library’s Borrowbox app - a real game changer for book lovers who don’t have time to sit down and read. It’s an audio book app that, with your library membership, lets you listen to a huge selection of titles. Just like browsing the shelves of a physical library you browse categories from children’s books to recent award winning literary titles, download your choice to your smartphone or tablet, and listen.

Borrowbox also lets you download ebooks, that can be read on your digital device.
This week I’m listening to a murder mystery set in Sweden. It’s the fourth in a series and one of the wonderful, added treats of listening to an audiobook set in a different country is that the reader can pronounce all the unfamiliar place and people names in an authentic way. I think it adds a whole new dimension to the story.

Always expanding, the most recent service added to Kilkenny Libraries is the Kanopy app. This is a streaming service for movies (including classics and foreign selections), documentaries and TV series with the aim that ‘everyone from film scholars to casual viewers will discover remarkable and enriching films on Kanopy’. Another great archive that is free to library members.

With St Patrick’s Day approaching, Kilkenny Libraries will be celebrating Seachtain na Gaeilge. Turn to page 68 of this week’s paper where you can read more about this, and look out for the Library Service page in the Kilkenny People every week to keep up to date with events.

Visit a branch of the library in Callan, Castlecomer, Urlingford, Thomastown, Ferrybank, Graignamanagh, City Quay and Loughboy. You can also sign up online at kilkennylibrary.ie. It’s well worth joining the community!