Where the books don't stop: everything you needed to know about libraries but were afraid to ask

Libraries are run by local authorities. There are 32 library authorities in the country operating 319 branch libraries. In addition there are 900 service points which are open less than 10 hours per week and 28 mobile libraries which serve rural areas and housing estates. Library services are also provided to prisons, hospitals, special schools and outreach and daycare centres. Libraries are communitybased and the type of services they offer depend on the needs of the local community.

Dublin Corporation's Central Library in the Ilac Centre is the largest public library. It boasts an adult lending library, a children's library, a music library, a business information centre and an open learning centre. Using audio and video equipment you can learn up to 60 different languages, including Ukranian, Latvian and Lakota, an American Indian language. The library is also a centre for the Institute of Linguistics' exams. You can brush up too, on your computer skills or acquire new ones, via the centre's computer learning packages. Recent innovations include informal conversation sessions in Italian, Spanish, French, German, Irish and Russian.

Ballymun Library, Dublin - if it's 11am on Tuesday, it's preschool story time. Two to five-year-olds attending playgroups, nurseries or creches in the area assemble to hear stories, sing songs and nursery rhymes and make their first contacts with books. "It's great fun and the children enjoy it," says librarian Ann Gannon. "We encourage parents to see the benefits of story-telling, join the library and bring books home."

A number of libraries run summer activity programmes for children. Libraries in South Co Dublin, for example, organise writing and artsbased workshops. Last summer children worked on a large mosaic which has been installed in the foyer of the County Library in Tallaght. "It's their stake in the building," says county librarian Sean Priestly. The library deals with 9,000 users each week and offers a range of services. The 100,000-volume library boasts more than 20 PCs and audiovisual language learning facilities.

Exhibitions are now a regular feature in libraries. The Arts Councils' Arts Plan 1995-97 proposes a partnership between itself and the Library Council to increase access to and participation in the arts through the public library system. A joint committee has been set up to advise on how best to promote the arts through the public library service.

An Chomhairle Leabharlanna was established in 1947 and advises the Minister for the Environment and individual library authorities on the provision and development of services.