Call made for a new State Library at first Irish Library Conference
Dublin, 29 June 1923 - With the creation of a new Irish State there was a need for a new State Library, a conference in Dublin was told yesterday.
To an audience that included the chief librarian of the National Library of Ireland, Mr. Robert Lloyd Praegar, a paper submitted by Alderman Tom Kelly TD claimed that none of the libraries in Ireland could be said to be national and he had always advocated for the formation of a State library based on the American example.
Alderman Kelly, whose paper was presented by Mr. JJ O’Neill, librarian at UCD, claimed that the library of the Chief Secretary’s office in Dublin Castle could, alongside purchases from Dublin Corporation of the collections of Sir John Gilbert, the ‘Joly’ Collection; and the writing and drawings of the Ordnance Survey of the mid 19th century, provide the nucleus of a new Irish library.
Alderman Kelly added that he would like to see finance made available over the next 10 to 15 years to develop such a library and to train young men and women who wished to embark on a career in libraries.
The conference heard contributions on a wider array of topics including the role of Children’s Libraries and varying views on the respective roles of central and local libraries. Emphasising the importance of the latter to the educational life of the country, Mr. J. Roy, a librarian based in Rathmines, declared that Irish libraries were very poor and were not in a position to do the things they wanted. Mr. Roy argued that there was now a glorious opportunity for the new Government to step into the breach and establish a true education for the people of Ireland.
The Irish Library Conference opened the previous day at the Physics Lecture Theatre of University College Dublin under the chairmanship of the Most Reverent Dr. Bernard, the Provost of Trinity College Dublin. In his opening address - to a crowd that included the President of UCD, Dr. Coffey and Mr. R. L. Praegar of the National Library of Ireland - Dr. Bernard said that he considered it to be the first ever meeting of the Irish Library Association. Library work was only really beginning in Ireland, he said, and it had only progressed to the point that it had because of the generosity of the Carnegie Trust.
Although three members of the Trust were in attendance at the opening event, missing due to illness was Sir Horace Plunkett who, as acknowledged by Dr. Barnard had done much to impress upon the Carnegie Trust the tremendous opportunities for library work in Ireland and the need for financial aid.
[Editor's note: This is an article from Century Ireland, a fortnightly online newspaper, written from the perspective of a journalist 100 years ago, based on news reports of the time.]
