Anna Manahan Remembered Celebration Night Wednesday 29 September at 6pm The Anna Manahan Remembered Exhibition acknowledges the lifelong contribution to Irish theatre of this Waterford native. The Waterford Europe Direct Centre is delighted to organise a special evening on 29 September at 6pm in Central Library to celebrate Anna Manahan. This event is part of Positive Aging Week. Special guests will include; The Mayor of Waterford Cllr. Mary Roche, Anna’s family and friends, Barry Cassin, Director and Ellen Murphy Senior Archivist, Dublin City Archive. All are welcome to attend. The exhibition runs at The Index Gallery, Central Library until.2 October.

It’s part of you…National Heritage Week 2010 at your library

Celebrating the life and times of the great actress Anna Manahan, reading by local author Peter Cunningham, paper and book making workshops, genealogy talks, local history classes and more …

Waterford City Council Library Service is joining the celebrations with National Heritage Week 2010 by providing a varied and in-depth look at family history and local heritage. Central Library, Ardkeen Library and Brown’s Road Library will host a selection of events from August 21st – August 29th and all are free.

Senior Executive Librarian Katherine Collins said “We are delighted to be in a position to showcase such a variety of the great heritage of Waterford City, including art, theatre, literature, crafts, research, genealogy and much more. National Heritage Week 2010 provides a great opportunity for everyone to participate and have fun learning more about where they live and work”.

National Heritage Week, which is coordinated by the Heritage Council runs from August 21st – 29th 2010 and the majority of events throughout the week are FREE. Complete event listings are also available on the National Heritage Week website, www.heritageweek.ie

To see the full list of events being held at Waterford City Council Library Service go to our "What's On?" page.

Most Borrowed From The Library In 2009

Horrid Henry is the most popular boy in Ireland while the Official Driver Theory Test takes pole position
Irish children are great readers and they made sure that children’s authors dominate the ‘most-borrowed-from-the-library’ list in Ireland last year. Roderick Hunt, author of over 300 titles in the Oxford Reading Tree series was the most borrowed author, barely beating the creator of the hugely popular Horrid Henry, Francesca Simon. Tales of Horrid Henry were taken home over 98,000 times in 2009.

Reacting to the confirmation of her popularity Ms Simon said:

‘I’m delighted that Horrid Henry is such a popular boy in Irish libraries as I spent all of my lunchtimes volunteering in my school library and most of my afternoons in my local one.’

The team behind Daisy Meadows of Rainbow Magic fame was the 3rd most-borrowed, with ever-popular authors Enid Blyton, Roger Hargreaves, and Roald Dahl all featuring in the top ten.
‘America’s favourite novelist’, Nora Roberts, who also writes as J.D. Robb, was the most-borrowed general fiction author at number 7, followed by fellow-American James Patterson at number 8, and Lee Child, author of the Reacher books, at number 10.

The most borrowed Irish author in 2009, at number 13, was Darren Shan, whose tales of vampires and demons have sold 15 million copies worldwide. Irish authors, both children’s and adult, are very popular with Irish readers, with 17 featuring in the top 100.

When it comes to the most-borrowed books, 6 Irish books are in the top ten. The top spot is taken by the Official Driver Theory Test, with John Boyne’s The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas being the second most-borrowed book. Published in 2006, the book’s enduring qualities continue to be appreciated by readers. A successful film based on the book was released in 2008.

In all 22 books by Irish authors are in the top 100 most popular books.

The public’s appetite for fantasy shows no sign of waning, with Stephanie Meyers’s Twilight at number 7, and the penultimate Harry Potter title, Harry Potter and The Half-blood Prince taking 9th slot. Neither of these books is new, but films of both were released in recent years, which goes some way towards explaining their renewed popularity.
Fiction dominates both the author and title list, with the most-borrowed non-fiction book, The Secret by Rhonda Byrne, coming in 69.

The most-borrowed lists are produced as part of the Public Lending Remuneration (PLR) Scheme, which was established in 2008 to support authors whose books are loaned by public libraries.

Wide Selection Of Feature Films Now Available On DVD

We have recently added a large number of feature films to our already extensive Adult and Children’s DVD collections.  These additions include the latest Hollywood blockbusters, classics, world cinema, documentaries and other genres.  Some examples added to our adults’ collection include:

It’s Complicated starring Meryl Streep, Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin.  Directed by Nancy Meyers.
The Hurt Locker starring Jeremy Renner and Anthony Mackie.  'Best Picture' at the Oscars 2010. Directed by Kathryn Bigelow.
The Taking of Pelham 123 starring Denzel Washington and John Travolta, Directed by Tony Scott.
Defiance starring Daniel Craig.  Directed by Edward Zwick.
The Ugly Truth starring Katherine Heigl and Gerard Butler.  Directed by Robert Luketic.
Julia starring Tilda Swinton.  Directed by Erick Zonac.
The Time Traveler’s Wife starring Eric Bana and Rachel McAdams.  Directed by Robert Schwentke.
Away We Go starring John Krasirski, Maya Rudolph and Maggie Gyllenhaal.  Directed by Sam Mendes.
Broken Embraces starring Penelope Cruz.  Directed by Pedro Almodovar.
Nowhere Boy starring Aaron Johnson and Kristin Scott Thomas.  Directed by Sam Taylor-Wood.

Currently there are over 5,400 adults’ and 2,700 children’s DVDs available and the collections are growing all the time.  A copy of all high interest films are purchased for all 3 of our library branches and other titles can be borrowed through our inter-branch borrowing system.  Patron requests for specific DVDs are considered and purchased if the film is appropriate to the collection for the long term.

DVDs can be borrowed free of charge for 1 week and can be renewed if not requested by another library customer.

No Need for Hush! Let Your Local Library Feed Your Imagination

OWL Electricity Monitors Now Available

OWL Electricity Monitors are now available to borrow at your local library. The OWL is a hand-held energy saving device to help you save the planet, as well as your pocket.

Using the OWL allows you to see the amount of energy you waste in your home, as it measures the electrical usage of your home appliances. You can then respond by changing your behaviour towards energy use, the OWL really can help you make a difference in the fight against climate change. It cleverly measures electricity consumption using kilowatt hours, it also measures the resulting CO2 emissions in Kg as well as in-home humidity and temperature. The OWL identifies ways in which a household can be more energy efficient by highlighting the electrical usage of everyday appliances – literally showing the level of electricity you waste in your home. And in doing so, the OWL is also showing the cost savings to be had as a direct result of being greener. The OWL can be borrowed for 1 week and OWLs are available in all three library branches

Waterford Newspapers War Archive.

Waterford City Council Library Service is delighted to announce the launch of a new and innovative local studies resource.  The Waterford Newspapers War Archive is a searchable database containing an extensive collection of articles relating to World War I and World War II covering the periods 1914 – 1918 and 1939 – 1947. 

The project is the product of work carried out by the Community Employment Scheme at Waterford City Council Library Service.

Click here to go to the project.

Irish Newspaper Archives Now Available

We are now subscribing to the Irish Newspaper Archives – search the Munster Express and 18 other titles for free at any Internet PC in Waterford City Library Service. Newspapers available for searching are:

• The Munster Express 1904 – 2004 (to be up to date by year end)

• Irish Independent 1905-2001. (Missing periods to be filled, July-Aug 1958, Jan-Aug 1959, May-Oct 1960, Jan – Dec 1963, Jan-Mar 1964, Dec 1965, Mar – Nov 1971, Dec 1972, Oct-Nov 1973, 1978-79, Sept – Dec 1981, July- Dec-1983). Also 2001-to current will all be update within the next four months.

• The Freemans Journal 1763-1924 (1825-1834,1842-1871) to be filled in by Oct this year.
• The Sunday Independent complete (1905-2001) will be fully up to date within four months.
• The Irish Farmers Journal 1957-1998 (will be up to date by year end)
• The Anglo-Celt 2004-2008
• The Galway City Tribune 1984-current
• The Connacht Tribune 1909 – Current
• The Connacht Sentinel 1927 – Current
• The Connaught Telegraph 1975 – Current
• The Donegal News 1980-2001
• The Leitrim Observer 1904 - 1998 (to be up date by year end)
• The Meath Chronicle 1897 – 2008
• The Southern Star 1889 – Current
• The Tuam Herald 1994-2000 (1838-1994 to be updated within two months)
• The Westmeath Examiner 1882 – Current
• The Guardian Nenagh 1838 –Current
• The Nation 1842 -1897
• The Kerryman 1970 – 2008 (1950-1969 by month end) (1904-1950 within three months)

Central Library chosen as new Europe Direct Centre

Waterford City Council Central Library has been chosen as the location for the new Europe Direct Information Centre for the South East of Ireland.

The Europe Direct Information Centre is part of the Europe Direct network operating in cities and towns across Europe. The Centres provide information on all aspects of European Union activity and are open to all.

The Europe Direct Information Centre, Waterford, is located on the second floor of the Central Library Lady Lane. For more information on the Europe Direct Centre contact Sinead O’Higgins or Mary Conway on 051 849975, or email europedirect@waterfordcity.ie

Holds/Overdue Notices by Text and Email

Would you like to receive your holds/overdue notices by text or email?  The Library can now notify you by text or email when a book you have on loan is overdue or when a book you have requested becomes available for you to collect.  There are a number of advantages to receiving notices by text or email:

Advantages of Receiving Notices by Text:

• Notices are instant
• Notices are sent a couple of times a day
• Holds notices sent within hours of the item being available for pickup
• A cleaner, greener option

Advantages of Receiving Notices by Email:

• Notices are instant
• A cleaner, greener option

To register for your preferred option, simply call into your local library and a staff member will sign you up.

© Waterford City Council 2010