180,000 people visit county library in Tallaght in 2022
OVER 180,000 people visited Tallaght Library and took to the pages of almost 100,000 new books which were rented in 2022.
Area manager for Clondalkin and Tallaght libraries, Liz Corry gave a detailed report of how the libraries performed in the last year.
In December, there was 74 events held in Tallaght Library and these were attended by some 2,250 people while 11,329 people visited, and 6079 items were issued.
Over the course of the calendar year, there was around 180,000 visitors to Tallaght Library with 97,979 items issued.
In total, there was 6,290 new members registered with the library.
“There was 180,000 vistors to Tallaght Library, which is really quite astonishing and shows the hard work of staff in getting people back in,” Liz Corry told the Tallaght Area Committee Meeting.
The scale of the visitors comes down to the variety of books and events which are on offer at the library.
Recently, a new monthly book club started, and there is mindfulness and beginners yoga class, language explorers class, alongside child-friendly events, Wobbler Wednesdays and musical tots.
To tie in with Chinese New Year, the library hosted a kite creation event, Year of the Rabit arts and crafts for children and a paper lantern workshop for adults is scheduled for January 31 at 11am.
Along with exhibitions and links to the Mother Tongues festival, there is also a crime writing course being held with author Louise Phillips in February.
Meanwhile, over in Castletymon, there was 36 events hosted in the library with 913 people attending, 45 new members and a total of 3,121 books issued.
“The mobile library service completed a busy year on December 22,” Liz said.
“We had made 106 local stops in neighbourhoods across the county in December.
“We visited nine primary schools to complete an uninterrupted schools visits programme for the term.
“Our Library @ Home service made 109 home deliveries to people who have difficulty leave their home.”
South Dublin County Council is rethinking the space available on the Mobile Library, to ensure they are maximising its usage.
“We’re trying to rethink the space and make it a bit more welcoming as we go forward,” Liz said.
“We’ve reconfigured it a small bit with more reading areas for the public, so people can sit down or if their children are using the library they have different designated areas there now… and we’re hoping to develop that further.”
Cllr Paddy Holohan mentioned how there is an audio book system for young children named a Tonbiebox that can give those struggling with literacy access to stories too.
In response, the council management said that it a good idea and stated that there are classes being held every week in Tallaght Library for Ukrainian refugees learning the English language.
