Christmas Message from the City Librarian
Published on 19th December 2024
On behalf of myself and the Library Team, I want to say a huge thank you for using our library service throughout the year. It’s always a pleasure to welcome you, assist with your queries, and, of course, help you find that very special book.
May I wish you all a very Happy Christmas and a peaceful, joyful New Year from everyone at Dublin City Libraries
2024 has been a really busy year for the city of Dublin and the must-see Winter Wonder Lights make it a truly amazing place for all during the festive season.
We are delighted to see increased numbers of people visiting the city and using the libraries. We have welcomed over 2 million visitors to our branches, with 95,000 people attending our events so far this year. It is great to see the library facilities embraced by every age group.
This year’s Dublin Literary Award was presented to Romanian author, Mircea Cărtărescu, and translator Sean Cotter at the International Literary Festival Dublin in May.
The Award is recognised internationally and celebrates the importance of literature on the world stage. 2025 promises to be extra special as we will celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Award.
The One Dublin, One Book for 2024 campaign celebrated ‘Snowflake’ by Louise Nealon, a debut novel featuring a contemporary story of a young woman from rural Ireland attending Trinity College. The book was well read across the city and beyond.
The Dublin Festival of History was celebrated in October with more than 5,000 attendees.
Over the year, we saw improvements to many of our branch libraries across the city, and have been busy planning for the future. The proposed new library for Drimnagh has gone to planning and Terenure will follow early in 2025.
Plans are also underway to increase the provision of the library service in Richmond Barracks, so watch this space. We are at an exciting stage of design with the City Library in Parnell Square and hope to have a construction team on site next year.
Rathmines Junior library has just had a well deserved makeover!
Our Library in the Community programme has pushed our services beyond the walls of our library buildings into the heart of our local communities. During 2024, we hosted some 217 events, with nearly 20,000 people attending. We have visited nursing homes, refugee centres, festivals and more – and will continue to explore new ways of engaging with citizens next year.
My Open Library at Pembroke and Raheny is a huge success – with Raheny alone tallying 1,000 members – and there are plans to extend the service to both Drumcondra and Walkinstown in the New Year.
All of our branches now offer some special treasures on 10 day loan so be sure to explore and ask staff for their help.
Books and reading are at the very heart of the library service and as always we encourage you to pick up a book, visit your local library or book shop. Keep Reading!
Our staff are here for you all year long, so please don’t hesitate to reach out if you need any help. We truly appreciate your support and interest, and we look forward to seeing you in the library soon.
Best wishes for 2025
Mairead Owens, City Librarian.
Libraries will close from Tuesday 24 December to Wednesday 1 January inclusive. Be sure to stock up on your Christmas reading material by Monday, 23 December. Branch Libraries reopen on Thursday, 2 January 2025. More in our blog HERE.