Library Written into the Record Books

Clare Champion, Friday, April 30, 1999.

Clare County Library wrote itself into the record books last week when it launched no less than four major promotions to celebrate a hundred years of local government in Clare and World Book Day. This was the first time the library had attempted a simultaneous launch of more than one promotion although these events have become a major feature of the services offered by the organisation.

Members of the library and visitors to its website at www.iol.ie/~clarelib are already familiar with the innovative approach it has taken in giving the public guidance and opportunities to spread their reading interests by introducing them to new authors and topics. Thanks to developments in technology, the information in the library's promotions can be availed of by library users in any part of the country through the Internet. It was the first and continues to be the only public library to have this facility available both at its branches and through the worldwide web.

Among the four major promotions launched were:

• Classics of Gaelic Literature in Translation: Conscious of the fact that at the time of the first meeting of Clare County Council on April 22, 1899, quite a large proportion of the reading population of Clare would have been Gaelic-speaking, the library's premier promotion features classics of Gaelic Literature in translation. These range from The Islandman (An tOileánach) by Tomás O Crohan and Twenty Years a-Growing (Fiche Blian ag Fás) by Maurice O'Sullivan, to the more recent Lead Us Into Temptation (Lig Sin I gCathú) by Breandán O hEithir and Lovers by Padraig Standún. The selected titles include reviews by prominent Irish librarians, co-ordinated and compiled by Clare County Library staff. Here once again is the opportunity for people to read a title that they may have always wanted to read, but never got around to.
• Murder They Wrote - One Hundred Masters of Crime: Many readers find crime novels fascinating but rarely stray from a few of their favourite authors. Here is an opportunity to experiment with a range of writers providing the option of many hours of enjoyment. Crime novels regularly appear on bestsellers lists and are one of the most borrowed category of books, appealing to both men and women alike. The reading of crime novels usually commences when readers reach their mid-twenties and the trend increases thereafter. This promotion arises from a detailed investigation of this genre by The Times newspaper, with the resultant research being utilised by Clare County Library to create this promotion. In fact it is a happy co-incidence that the library can recommend a Master of Crime Fiction for each year of Local Government!
• 1990s Children's Book Award Winners: Award winning books for children of all ages, from toddlers to teenagers. In keeping with Clare County Library's policy of promoting reading among young members, this latest promotion entitled, 1990s Children's Book Award Winners has been developed as an in-house project. Five major awards feature in this promotion ensuring that children of all ages will find an award-winning book to read. With a total of sixty three titles, young readers can choose from books which are as diverse in suitability and content as the delightful picture book The Baby Who Wouldn't Go To Bed by Helen Cooper, or the teenage book Junk by Melvin Burgess. Junk mirrors the reality of teenage life with startling accuracy.
  The awards featured in this promotion are: The Bisto Book of the Year Award; The Eilis Dillon Award; The Carnegie Medal; The Kate Greenway Medal and The Smarties Book Prize.
• A Write Laugh: This promotion should help to get people over the winter blues, as it features stories where one can find slapstick and belly laughs, wry words and dry words, cynicism and innocence. Whether you want to laugh out loud or smile peacefully down inside, the books in this selection are worth reading. Authors selected include Terry Pratchett, Garrison Keillor, Will Self, Roddy Doyle, Kinky Friedman, Nick Hornby, Ben Elton and Anne Dunlop.

County Librarian, Noel Crowley, says it is the policy of the library to actively promote the reading habit by increasing access to and awareness of material via book promotions. Each themed promotion has an average of twenty carefully selected titles. Multiple copies of these are displayed together in a prominent position of each branch library. This formal display is undoubtedly part of the success of the venture. Brochures and posters accompany each promotion, providing reviews and suggestions for further reading.

Each promotion is circulated in turn - for a period of three months - throughout the branch library network, ensuring a continuous supply of fresh promotions. For certain promotions, a different approach is taken by launching a promotion as a 'virtual' one on the library's Internet (available in selected branches) and on the World Wide Web and by immediate distribution of copies of the selected books throughout the county.

Book Promotions to date have included: Bunstoc Leabhar Nua-Ghaeilge Ireland's Top 100 list Irish Authors for Children Foreign Bodies Turning Points Obsession With a Little help from . . . City Limits Teenage Promotion Better Read than Dead Voices from Europe

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