Library Service Throughout April as in the previous months of 2021, the doors of all 10 Cork City Library service points continue to remain closed with staff working a blended roster working in the office and from home. The extended LibraryLink book delivery service continues to remain extremely popular as it combats social isolation as well as delivering books to older people and those housebound. The libraries online services providing eBooks, eAudio books, Universal Class and many more continue to remain very popular and Cork City Libraries introduced Libby our new emagazine app this month , with over 3000 magazines to choose from it’s the One-tap reading app! The borrowing of eBooks and eAudiobooks saw an 23% increase when compared to April 2020 and an incredible 293% increase on April 2019 (12,036 borrowed 2021: 9786 borrowed 2020; 3,061 borrowed 2019) Increased investment at a local and national level has been crucial to sustaining this vital service which has encouraged many people to look to the public libraries throughout the pandemic. As has been the pattern throughout the different levels of lockdown membership of Cork City Libraries continues to increase, with an 8% increase to year end this month on 2020 and 53% increase on 2019 ( 36,694 , 2021: 34,379, 2020: 24,024 2019) * *City boundary extension of 3 extra libraries increased membership on 31 May 2019
Though the library buildings remained closed April was an extremely busy and vibrant month for Cork City Library service. This month’s Library podcast, A Reading City , included a preview of Cork World Book Fest 2021, Part 3 in our step-by-step guide to researching your family tree and writing tips from our Writer in Residence Tina Pisco. The very successful Grow it Forward campaign which saw over 850 packets of seeds distributed to the public in March was supported online this month by videos on planting and growing on our social media platforms. Spring into Storytime is Cork City Libraries’ annual celebration of families coming together to read and listen to great stories and was held online this month. The programme included Rhyme and Sign which included introduction to baby sign and basic ISL sign , story sessions as Gaeilge and many more.
It was an historic year for Cork World Book Fest which is managed by Cork City Libraries and Triskel Christchurch. In its 17 th year the festival was held totally online for the first time . The programme ran from April 20 to 25 th hosting 25 events. Writers included those from Colombia, Iceland, Australia, Barcelona, New York, UK, Northern Ireland, Mexico, Cuba, Germany, Latvia, Tokyo and Spain. Award winning local and national writers were also well represented with Eilís Ní Dhuibhne, Evelyn Conlon, Alannah Hopkin, Danielle McLaughlin, Sara Baume and many more. Writer in Residence Tina Pisco led a conversation with Cónal Creedon and Sara Baume on The Writer as an Activist-Do writers have a duty to engage with climate change in their writing. An overall audience of over 1500 tuned in from all over the world from Nova Scotia to New York and Texas to Turin. Partnerships included Nano Nagle Place and Fiction at the Friary. Cork’s One City One Book initiative was also launched as part of the Fest.
Poetry in the Park was launched on April 29 to celebrate Poetry Ireland Day. An initiative of Cork City Libraries in collaboration with Cork City Council’s Parks and Recreation Department, a variety of poems were installed in The Regional Park Ballincollig, Tramore Valley Park and Fitzgerald’s Park. Works by emerging and young poets have been installed alongside well established award winners. The Poetry in the Park Collection will be in place for the summer with the pieces being replaced at regular intervals highlighting the vibrancy of contemporary poetry in many languages in our city.
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