Letterkenny Library and Arts Centre

Last updated

Letterkenny Library and Arts Centre
LetterkennyLibrary.jpg
Established1995
Location Letterkenny, County Donegal, Ireland
Coordinates 54°56′54″N7°44′16″W / 54.948457144708975°N 7.737708830085506°W / 54.948457144708975; -7.737708830085506
Access and use
Population servedCounty Donegal
Website https://www.donegallibrary.ie/
Map
Letterkenny Library and Arts Centre

The Letterkenny Library and Arts Centre is located on St. Oliver Plunkett Road in the County Donegal town. [1] It is the central library in the county and is an integral part of Donegal County Council's arts provision. It is the first arts centre operated by a local authority in Ireland.

Contents

History

The Centre opened in 1995 on the site of the demolished Literary Institute. The Literary Institute was built in 1876. It was donated to the town by Doctor Crerand from Illistrin and opened by the Lord Chancellor of Ireland, Lord O'Hagan. It was once a seminary used to train priests before St Eunan's College was built. It was also a school and a social club. It lay derelict for a number of years before demolition to make way for the new library.

Facilities

Following renovations in May 1999, the premises in the Central Library building became a dedicated exhibition space, with occasional live performances. The Centre specialises broadly in visual arts, community arts, music, literature and film and represents a busy programme of exhibitions, performances and workshops in the Centre and other buildings. The Library is special in the fact that it has one of only two clock towers located in the town; the other being located a few metres away.

Building layout

Library locations in County Donegal LibraryLocations.jpg
Library locations in County Donegal

As one enters the building, a door on the left reveals a set of stairs leading down to the arts centre in the basement. The arts centre is where regular exhibitions are heard and it has also been used to host youth drama workshops in the past.

The library itself is divided between the ground and upstairs floors of the building.

On the ground floor a vast array of adult books may be found as well as a children's section where silence is not so strictly enforced. A stairway overlooks the counter where computers are used to keep track of which books are being borrowed and by whom. Borrowed books may be returned by slipping them into a secure box outside the building should the borrower be in a bit of a hurry. Computers are also located on the ground floor which are easy to use for inquisitive locals and homesick tourists alike.

Detail of footpath outside the Library Library-walk-lk.jpg
Detail of footpath outside the Library

Upstairs is a study area regularly used by students and other townspeople who wish to avail of its comfortable tables and chairs, relaxed airy quiet atmosphere, and thousands of reference books, maps, dictionaries and encyclopedias. This is also where the local archives are held, as well as a special area designated for adults only, who may wish to mull over the daily newspaper or a specialist magazine: Hot Press or TIME are among those on offer.

The building is monitored closely by CCTV.

Related Research Articles

Letterkenny Town in Ulster, Ireland

Letterkenny, nicknamed 'the Cathedral Town', is the largest and most populous town in County Donegal, Ireland. It lies on the River Swilly in East Donegal in the west of Ulster, and has a population of 19,274. It is the 36th largest settlement in all of Ireland by population, and is the 15th largest settlement by population in the province of Ulster. Along with the nearby city of Derry, Letterkenny is considered a regional economic gateway for the north-west of Ireland. Letterkenny acts as an urban gateway to the Ulster Gaeltacht, similar to Galway's relationship to the Connemara Gaeltacht.

Llantrisant Human settlement in Wales

Llantrisant is a town in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, within the historic county boundaries of Glamorgan, Wales, lying on the River Ely and the Afon Clun. The three saints of the town's name are SS. Illtyd, Gwynno, and Dyfodwg. Llantrisant is a hilltop settlement, at an altitude of 174 m (565 ft) above sea level. The town is home to the Royal Mint.

Glenties Village in County Donegal, Ireland

Glenties is a town in County Donegal, Ireland. It is situated where two glens meet, north-west of the Bluestack Mountains, near the confluence of two rivers. Glenties is the largest centre of population in the parish of Iniskeel. Glenties has won the Irish Tidy Towns Competition five times in 1958, 1959, 1960, 1962 and 1995 and has won a medal many other times. As of 2016, the population is 805.

Ballyshannon Town in Ireland

Ballyshannon is a town in County Donegal, Ireland. It is located at the southern end of the county where the N3 from Dublin ends and the N15 crosses the River Erne. Incorporated in 1613, it is one of the oldest towns in Ireland.

Donegal (town) Town in County Donegal, Ulster, Ireland

Donegal is a town in County Donegal, Ireland. The name was also historically spelt 'Dunnagall'. Although Donegal gave its name to the county, now Lifford is the county town. From the 15th until the early 17th century, Donegal was the 'capital' of Tyrconnell, a Gaelic kingdom controlled by the O'Donnell dynasty of the Northern Uí Néill.

The University of Sydney Library is the library system of the University of Sydney. It comprises eight locations across several campuses of the university. Its largest library, Fisher Library, is named after Thomas Fisher, an early benefactor.

Buncrana Town in Ulster, Ireland

Buncrana is a town in County Donegal, Ireland. It is beside Lough Swilly on the Inishowen peninsula, 23 kilometres (14 mi) northwest of Derry and 43 kilometres (27 mi) north of Letterkenny. In the 2016 census, the population was 6,785 making it the second most populous town in County Donegal, after Letterkenny, and the largest in Inishowen.

Vancouver Public Library (VPL) is the public library system for the city of Vancouver, British Columbia. In 2013, VPL had more than 6.9 million visits with patrons borrowing nearly 9.5 million items including: books, ebooks, CDs, DVDs, video games, newspapers and magazines. Across 22 locations and online, VPL serves nearly 428,000 active members and is the third-largest public library system in Canada.

Florence Court Historic site

Florence Court is a large 18th-century house and estate located 8 miles south-west of Enniskillen, County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. It is set in the foothills of Cuilcagh Mountain. The nearby village is distinguished by the one-word name Florencecourt. It is owned and managed by the National Trust and is the sister property of nearby Castle Coole. The other National Trust property in County Fermanagh is the Crom Estate.

Brockenhurst College is a large tertiary college situated in Brockenhurst, Hampshire. Co-educational since the 1920s, Brockenhurst College accepts students of all ages.

Ardgillan Castle Country house and demesne near Balbriggan, north of Dublin, Ireland

Ardgillan Castle is a country house near Balbriggan, County Dublin, Ireland. It is set in the 200-acre (0.81 km2) Ardgillan Demesne, a public park in the jurisdiction of Fingal County Council.

Jacksonville Public Library Public library system in Florida

The Jacksonville Public Library is the public library system of Jacksonville, Florida. It primarily serves Jacksonville and Duval County, and is also used by the neighboring Baker, Nassau, Clay, and St. Johns Counties. It is one of the largest library systems in Florida, with a collection of over three million items. A division of the city government, the library has the third largest group of city employees after the city's Fire Department and Sheriff's Office. There are twenty branches and a Main Library in the system.

Donegal County Museum County museum in County Donegal, Ireland

Donegal County Museum is a county museum in County Donegal in Ireland. Located on the High Road in Letterkenny, the museum building first opened to the public in 1845 as the Warden's House of the Letterkenny Workhouse. The building was repurposed as a museum in the late 20th century.

As with other towns and cities in Ireland, Letterkenny has a history of great architecture. Many examples of ancient architecture remain in the town to the present day – though much has been lost also, through decay and modern development.

Letterkenny Regional Cultural Centre Arts Centre in County Donegal, Ireland

Regional Cultural Centre, Letterkenny is a cultural centre located in Letterkenny, County Donegal, Ireland. The centre is located behind An Grianán Theatre on the Port Road in the town and is the leading cultural centre in north-west Ireland. It has been described as a cultural beacon by The Irish Times second only to Kilkenny City in terms of cultural beaconess.

The National Library and Information System of Trinidad and Tobago is a corporate body established by the NALIS Act No. 18 of 1998 to administer the development and coordination of library and information services in Trinidad and Tobago.

Main Street, Letterkenny

Main Street is an important thoroughfare in Letterkenny, County Donegal, Ireland. Sometimes claimed to be the longest street in Ireland, it is divided into two sections, with Lower Main Street running from the junction at Oldtown Road to the Market Square and Upper Main Street running from the Market Square to the junction at Crossview House. Traffic flows in a one-way system from Crossview House downwards.

Libraries in Cardiff

Public libraries in Cardiff are owned and operated by Cardiff Council. There are 20 public libraries in the capital of Wales, the largest of which is Cardiff Central Library. A mobile library service is also provided. In 2018/19, there were almost 91,000 Cardiff residents, around 25% of the city's population, who borrowed an item from a municipal library. Increases in visits, active borrowers and library members have taken place during 18/19 as the service continues to grow in popularity with Cardiff's citizens.

Haining Library

Haining Library, or Haitu (海图), is a public library affiliated to Haining Municipal Bureau of Culture, Radio, Television, Tourism and Sport. The library is located in Haining, Jiaxing, Zhejiang, China, with a main building located in 60-62 Xuelin Street and 11 branches and tens of circulation points located in all the towns and sub-districts under Haining. As of August 2018, the library contains 1.7 million item. It is ranked as National First Class Library by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of China.

Museum of Literature Ireland Literary museum in Dublin, also "MoLI"

The Museum of Literature Ireland, branded MoLI in an homage to Molly Bloom, is a literary museum in Dublin, Ireland. It opened in September 2019. The museum is a partnership between the National Library of Ireland and University College Dublin (UCD). It is located in UCD's Newman House in St Stephen's Green. It holds a permanent collection of James Joyce-related material, including his "Copy No. 1" of Ulysses, and revolving exhibitions on other Irish literary figures. With a range of audio and immersive displays, it has been nominated for and won a number of awards for design and architecture.

References

  1. "Donegal Library Services". Donegal Library Services.