Ireland Reads – South Dublin Libraries are encouraging everyone to take part in the national initiative to get the whole country reading on 25 February.
The campaign is asking everyone to ‘squeeze in a read’ on Ireland Reads Day, Thursday, 25 February.
A new website www.irelandreads.ie has been set up where people can pledge to read on the day and see how much time has been pledged by the Irish public so far. The website also offers book recommendations suited to a person’s interests and the time they have available. There are more than 800 recommendations from librarians all around the country. A website user can simply enter their favourite type of book and how long they would like to read each day and the website will offer a suitable book suggestion – a couch to 5k for books! Even though the libraries are closed due to Covid 19 restrictions, e-Books and audio-books can be borrowed for free from the Borrowbox app while magazines can be downloaded from RB Digital, all using your library card. For more information about all our online resources please visit www.southdublinlibraries.ie.
South Dublin Libraries have organised lots of online events for the month of February, leading up to the Ireland Reads Day. Event highlights include:
- A Big Book Quiz for all adult readers and book club members
- Children’s workshops with authors Patricia Forde and Brian Gallagher and illustrator/storytellers Margaret Ann Suggs and Alan Nolan
- Journalism in Ireland, a talk by Brian Mahon, writer for The Times
- Emotion in Poetry with Dublin poet Anne Tannam
- Children’s Short Story Competition
- Book Spine Poetry Competition
To find out more about these and all of our free online library events, follow South Dublin Libraries on Facebook. Booking for all events takes place via Eventbrite.com.
Also coinciding with Ireland Reads Day on 25 February , South Dublin Libraries brings you Between the Red Lines, a spin-off series of events from the Red Line Book Festival with a brand-new programme of Irish voices. Between the Red Lines Events will take place over seven days starting 22 February and festival voices this year include acclaimed novelist, Marita Conlon McKenna; previous Red Line Book Festival Writer-in-Residence and award-winning writer Lisa Harding; journalist and writer, Manchán Mangan; Patricia Forde; Annemarie Ni Churreáin; and John Patrick McHugh, among others. Full programme details here: https://www.redlinebookfestival.ie/between-the-red-lines
A number of well-known campaign ambassadors from the worlds of writing, science, sport, health and broadcasting are on board to help promote the campaign, and you can find out what reading means to them and why they support the campaign at www.irelandreads.ie.
“It doesn’t matter how long you read for or what you read, it doesn’t matter whether you’re an avid reader, a reluctant reader, a lapsed reader or a new reader, this campaign is for you”, says Bernadette Fennell, County Librarian, South Dublin Libraries.
“Right now, many of the activities we used to take for granted are not available to us, but you can always enjoy a good book, newspaper or magazine. These are all available free online to library members via the Borrowbox app. Libraries and library staff are waiting to welcome people back whenever that will be possible, but until then we always have books to remind us of other people, other places, and better days. So we really encourage people to please pledge to take some reading time for yourself or to share with family.”
Mayor of South Dublin County Council, Cllr Ed O’Brien, shared why he loves to read and why he’s encouraging everyone to visit the Ireland Reads website and pledge their reading time on 25 February :
“I love to take time out to read, especially political and sports biographies. It offers the opportunity to escape screens and escape the daily grind to learn and to enjoy good writing and our libraries are a great outlet for these endeavours”
Find out about all that is happening for Ireland Reads, get book recommendations and take the pledge to read on Thursday 25February at www.irelandreads.ie
