Dublin City Libraries will be closed from Saturday 4 May to Monday 6 May 2024 (inclusive). Our online services will continue as usual. We will reopen on Tuesday, 7 May.
The International DUBLIN Literary Award 2020 Shortlist
Ten novels have been shortlisted for the 2020 International DUBLIN Literary Award, sponsored by Dublin City Council. The shortlist announced today includes Milkman by Irish author Anna Burns, and three novels in translation. Celebrating 25 years, this award is the world's most valuable annual prize for a single work of fiction published in English, worth €100,000 to the winner. If the book has been translated the author receives €75,000 and the translator receives €25,000.The writers, eight of whom are female, come from Canada, France, India, Iran, Ireland, Poland, the UK and the USA.The six member international judging panel, chaired by Prof. Chris Morash, will select one winner on Thursday 22nd October during the International Literature Festival Dublin (ILFDublin) reimagined 2020 festival.Shortlisted Titles1.The Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker (British). Published by Hamish Hamilton Ltd.2.Milkman by Anna Burns (Irish). Published by Faber & Faber and Graywolf Press.3.Disoriental by Négar Djavadi (Iranian-French). Translated from the French by Tina Kover. Published by Europa Editions.4.Washington Black by Esi Edugyan (Canadian). Published by Serpents Tail Ltd., HarperCollins Canada and Alfred A. Knopf.5.An American Marriage by Tayari Jones (American). Published by Algonquin Books.6.History of Violence by Édouard Louis (French). Translated from the French by Lorin Stein. Published by Harvill Secker.7.The Friend by Sigrid Nunez (American). Published by Virago Press Ltd.8.There There by Tommy Orange (Native American). Published by Harvill Secker, Alfred A. Knopf and McClelland & Stewart Inc.9.All the Lives We Never Lived by Anuradha Roy (Indian). Published by MacLehose Press and Atria Books.10. Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk (Polish). Translated by from the Polish by Antonia Lloyd-Jones. Published by Fitzcarraldo Editions.Borrow the BooksAll the novels nominated for the Award are available for readers to borrow from Dublin’s public libraries. Readers can also borrow most of the shortlisted titles on BorrowBox - eBooks and eAudiobooks for limited periods by way of digital loans. The full list of 156 titles has been published in a free newsletter, and all details are also on the newly revamped Award website at www.dublinliteraryaward.ie.
Dublin’s first ever Historian-in-Residence for Children
In partnership with Dublin City Libraries, Dublin City Council Culture Company launched Dublin’s first ever Historian-in-Residence for Children. This new Creative Residency will have children and history at its core and is an invitation to local children to work collaboratively, to uncover their own local history, create their own storytelling of that history, discover new passions and see their ideas and interests reflected in the work created.
From week starting 31st August there will be disruption to children’s services at Ballymun Library. This is to allow essential repairs to the roof and drainage of the building to take place. Further details of this phase of the work to follow. The entire roof will be replaced over the coming months, with the overall programme scheduled to take 12-15 weeks.Sincere apologies for any inconvenience this causes. Please keep and eye on our social media for further updates.
Inchicore Library has re-opened at Richmond Barracks. The temporary library is now operating on a browse-and-borrow basis.The library is open from 10am to 4pm Monday to Thursday and 10am to 4pm on alternate Fridays/Saturdays and offers a Borrow and Browse service only. However, at the moment there is no self-service, printing or public pc use but please bear with us and keep an eye on our social media for further updates.Here’s the weekend schedule for this month and September.August - Sat. 15th, Fri 21st, Sat 29th.September - Fri 4th, Sat 12th, Fri 18th, Sat 26th.Please email [email protected] with any queries. We thank you in adavance for your co-operation.
Update (24th July): You can now access computers in the following branch libraries:Ballyfermot, Ballymun, Cabra, Coolock, Pearse St., Raheny, Rathmines and Walkinstown libraries. Unfortunately social distancing requirements mean computers cannot be put into service in Pembroke library at this time.Note: Free WiFi available in all our 'Browse-and-Collect' libraries.In order to be compliant with social distancing guidelines, only a limited number of computers are in service at this time. Computers will be available on a walk-in basis, but booking in advance is recommended. Session lengths are limited to 30 minutes per patron per day.Please note the following:Limited availability. Not all computers are in service.Session length – 30 minutes maximum.Sessions cannot be extended.One session per patron per day allowed.Patron library membership card required in order to use a computer. Please have your card with you on each library visit as required.Walk-in use is possible, but computer availability cannot be guaranteed.Booking in advance is recommended.If booking by telephone, see library contact details below.Self-booking is in operation in the library (via the PC Reservation booking console adjacent to the computers).Bookings cannot be made at the library desk.Patron library card number and PIN required to make a booking and take up a session.When taking up a booking, patron to present in library on time, at time of booking, with library card. Being late means a shorter session.A time-out warning system will alert users to time remaining and will terminate sessions when the allotted time has elapsed.Limited staff support available.Adult computers only are in service at this time.Branch Contact Details (Mon-Sat, 10am to 4pm):Ballyfermot, Tel. 222 8422Ballymun, Tel. 222 8355Cabra, Tel. 01 869 1414Coolock, Tel. 01 222 8490Pearse St., Tel. 01 674 4888Raheny, Tel. 01 222 8322Rathmines, Tel. 01 222 8466Walkinstown. Tel. 222 8890Please contact the branch in advance if you cannot take up a booking.[Originally published: 8th July 2020]
Hello Everyone,It has been a busy few weeks as we get used to delivering the DCC library service in a different way. We hope that you are trying the various options now offered to you digitally from e-books, newsletters, magazines and music to the many online courses. The Government has announced that public libraries may open from the 8th of June. As you can imagine this will be a challenge for all of us. Please be assured that library staff will embrace all the changes that will come our way as we seek to provide the library service across the City of Dublin.We will continue to explore new ways of service delivery over the coming months so watch this space. We know that this pandemic will be with us for some time and that we must all learn to co-exist with it. Library staff will follow public health and government advice at all times. We expect that re-opening will be on a phased basis and we should have an operational plan in place by the 18th of May to share with you. We look forward to opening the doors of our libraries again and seeing you face to face in the near future. In the meantime do keep in touch with us - you’ll find our social media details below, and look after yourselves. Stay safe.Mairead Owens,City Librarian
Coolock Library opened its doors to the public on January 2nd to much fanfare and jubilation in the local community and on social media, not to mention all the publicity nationwide. The newly refurbished library is the first public library to offer users free access to the latest in 3D technology.
2020 International DUBLIN Literary Award Longlist Announced
Eight novels from Ireland are among 156 books nominated by libraries around the world for the 2020 International DUBLIN Literary Award. With the winner receiving €100,000, the Award is the world’s most valuable annual prize for a single work of fiction published in English.
'History on your Doorstep' is back with a second volume of six short essays with the Historians in Residence bringing their research and stories to the page for your reading pleasure. Did you know that Lemon Street in Dublin city centre is named after Graham Lemon, the famous Dublin sweet-maker who set-up Lemon’s Sweets in 1842? Or that the Dublin Cattle market in Stoneybatter was once the busiest in Europe?From the ground breaking St. Ultan’s hospital for children, to the life-story of the gifted traditional musician Séamus Ennis, social housing on Dublin’s southside 100 years ago or the city and the War of Independence, there is something to show the history of Dublin, wherever you are in the city.'History on your Doorstep' is brought to you by Dublin City Council’s Historian in Residence programme. A team of six Historians in Residence work across Dublin city to talk to people about history and promote its sources, especially documents, photos, and books in Dublin City Libraries and Archives. The project is an initiative of Dublin City Council under the Decade of Commemorations (1919-22) and strives to break down barriers to history.History on your Doorstep Volume 2 is available in all Dublin City Libraries now in hardcopy only.In case you missed a copy of History on your Doorstep Volume 1, check out our online version of the booklet. (PDF). Or reserve it on our catalogue.
Irish nationalists drew parallels between their own struggle and that in India, particularly the brutality of colonialism. In mid-1919, the British government faced rebellion both overseas and at home. India was consumed with unrest as demobilised soldiers and economic recession created unstable conditions in the region, particularly the Punjab. On 10 April 1919, rioting began in the city of Amritsar, following the arrest and deportation of Indian national leaders. All meetings and public assemblies were banned in response to the violence; when a large crowd gathered at an enclosed public space known as Jallianwalla Bagh, British and Gurkha troops, led by General Reginald Dyer, opened fire without warning. At the subsequent enquiry in October, Dyer himself justified his actions by stating that it was ‘no longer merely a question of dispersing the crowd, but of producing a sufficient moral effect from a military point of view’ – in other words, setting an example.The image opposite, from the satirical newspaper, The Lepracaun, compares British rule in the two countries: executions and burning of homesteads in Ireland, while India saw the brutal practice of execution by cannon, particularly associated with the British suppression of the rebellion of 1857. At home, the campaign against British rule in Ireland commenced with an ambush on a police patrol in Tipperary in January 1919, the same day the First Dáil met at the Mansion House in Dublin.Dyer was eventually dismissed from the army but commanded widespread support in the UK, with one MP suggesting that he be sent to Ireland to use similar methods to defeat Sinn Fein. Another warned that the same would soon happen in Ireland: as the Marquess of Crewe said, ‘for "Amritsar" read "Limerick" or "Ennis," or some town in the South and West, and conceive a precise repetition of the circumstances there.’Dyer was eventually dismissed from the army but commanded widespread support in the UK, with one MP suggesting that he be sent to Ireland to use similar methods to defeat Sinn Fein. Another warned that the same would soon happen in Ireland: as the Marquess of Crewe said, ‘for "Amritsar" read "Limerick" or "Ennis," or some town in the South and West, and conceive a precise repetition of the circumstances there.’Dublin Irish and Local Studies CollectionThe Dublin and Irish Local Studies Collection includes new and second-hand material on Dublin City and County covering a range of books, newspapers, periodicals, photographs, maps, prints, drawings, theatre programmes, playbills, posters, ballad sheets, audiovisual materials and ephemera. Library and archive material cannot be borrowed or removed from the Reading Room. Collections can be accessed by filling out request forms and can be viewed in the Reading Room only.Blogpost by: Bernard Kelly, Historian in Residence, Dublin City Library and Archive.