Open our libraries on Sundays

FINE Gael councillor Neale Richmond has called on the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government to introduce measures that would allow public libraries to open on Sundays.

Cllr Richmond said:

“As it stands, no public library opens on a Sunday. In this day and age, I feel this is an archaic practice that fails to properly accommodate the many people who would like to access our libraries but cannot do so under the current opening hours regime.

“Our public libraries now are so much more than books – they are central to the community and provide a much needed space for a whole range of events and learning activities.

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He pointed to the Lexicon in Dún Laoghaire as one library that the public would like to see open on a Sunday.

“This is a great facility for all of the community and it has received well over 150,000 visitors since it opened its doors last October,

? Cllr Richmond continued.

“However, I have been inundated with requests from parents, students and many other members of the public who have travelled to the library on a Sunday only to find it closed. It is daft to think that nearly

?¬40 million can be spent on a major capital project such as the Lexicon but that it cannot be fully used by the public who paid for its construction.

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Cllr Richmond has written to Environment Minister Alan Kelly about the issue and has asked his party colleague, Olivia Mitchell, to raise his proposal in the Dáil.

He added:

“Our libraries are at risk. We need to adapt to the changing demands of an increasingly consumer minded public. It is vital to the future survival of our libraries and to the betterment of our communities as a whole so I am asking the Minister to save our libraries and open them on Sundays.

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