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The Long Room, Trinity College Library Dublin – New Exhibition Launched 23rd October 2014

A major new exhibition of children’s books celebrating the wondrous ways in which writers and illustrators have used myth to engage and excite young readers was launched in the Long Room, Trinity College Library Dublin, on Thursday, October 23rd, 2014. The exhibition is open to the public and runs until April 2015.

Illustration from "The Children of Lir" illustration © PJ Lynch 2014 - taken from "The Names Upon The Harp" by Marie Heaney, published by Faber
Illustration from “The Children of Lir” illustration © PJ Lynch 2014 – taken from “The Names Upon The Harp” by Marie Heaney, published by Faber

The exhibition, entitled ‘Upon the Wild Waves: A Journey through Myth In Children’s Books’ presents material from the 17th century to the present day and was prepared by Dr Pádraic Whyte, Assistant Professor in English and co-director of the Masters programme in Children’s Literature at the School of English, Trinity College Dublin.

From Walter Crane’s superb images of Greek heroes battling monsters in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s A Wonder Book for Girls and Boys, through to Beatrice Elvery’s enchanting depiction of Niamh riding out from Tír na nÓg in Violet Russell’s Heroes of the dawn, the exhibition brings visitors on a magical journey through a diverse range of fascinating children’s books. The display, which is primarily aimed at adult visitors, features myths from around the world, with a particular emphasis on English-language books and on tales by Irish authors and illustrators. All the texts are drawn from the Library which holds over 150,000 children’s books – approximately 10,500 of which are from the Pollard Collection of Children’s Books. This collection was bequeathed to the Library in 2005 by a former Keeper of Early Printed Books, Mary ‘Paul’ Pollard.

Commenting on the significance of the exhibition, Dr Whyte said:

“Children’s literature is a central and vital part of our cultural heritage and this exhibition reveals the sophisticated ways in which myth in children’s books can be used to explore everything from gender and same-sex-relationships through to historical revisionism and 1916. I’m delighted that we have the opportunity to display for visitors many of the treasures held at the Trinity College Library, and to highlight some of the research in children’s literature taking place at the School of English.”

The exhibition is also available to view online, click here

Kinsella Hall, 24-hour Study Hall Announced, 16th October 2014

October 16th, 2014 − A new 24-hour Study Hall was marked today at Trinity College Library Dublin at a special ceremony. The Study Hall has been made possible through significant endowment funding which also supports scholarships for up to six engineering students simultaneously as they pursue their education. These initiatives were made possible through the generous private support of the Chief Executive of Jones Engineering Group, Eric Kinsella, and his wife Barbara.
The state-of-the-art Kinsella Hall comprises three floors of 24-hour study space in the Ussher Library for all students and researchers in Trinity to access day and night, and remains open throughout the year except over Christmas. It will allow for up to 600 study spaces for the students to study in a specially designed space. The three floors are being opened on a phased basis this term and will be fully functioning later this term.
The Student Study Hall is named in honour of Mr Kinsella’s parents, William and Kathleen Kinsella.

“We believe in the importance of supporting students achieve their full potential in the course of their studies. The Study Hall represents this in the most practical of ways, enabling students to study intensively throughout the year in a state-of-the-art facility. I am gratified that the Study Hall is going to be named in honour of my own parents, as a means of marking their own outstanding commitment and dedication to the education and wellbeing of their children,” said Mr Kinsella on the occasion of the unveiling of the plaque for the new facility.

Continue reading “Kinsella Hall, 24-hour Study Hall Announced, 16th October 2014”

Government Announces National Open Access Policy

Ireland’s National Principles for Open Access – announced by Minister Sean Sherlock at noon today! A national statement on Open Access policy for all publicly-funded research in Ireland has been agreed by all Irish research funding councils and research institutes. Appropriately the announcement is being made during International Open Access Week. The full text of the National Statement, along with a list of supporting organisations, is available here. Trinity College Dublin, a supporter of the policy, already has a compliant Open Access publications policy.

New Collaborative Storage Facility in Bid to Conserve Ireland’s Library Collections

The university libraries of Trinity College Dublin, University College Dublin and the National Library of Ireland today (19 August 2011) announced plans to jointly develop a shared facility to accommodate the urgent storage needs of their collections, as well as the longer-term needs of Irish research libraries in general.

The new facility would accommodate vast collections of books, manuscripts, maps, audio recordings, early printed books and other valuable materials of historical and cultural value which are currently at risk due to inadequate or inappropriate storage space.

“Storage space for our collections has reached crisis point in the country’s major research libraries, TCD and UCD, and in the National Library of Ireland,” explained UCD Librarian John Howard, speaking at today’s announcement. Fiona Ross, Director of the National Library, added: “The National Library of Ireland’s National Collection is at imminent risk of damage and destruction due to unsuitable conditions in storage areas in the Library’s Kildare Street and Temple Bar sites.”

“Trinity College Library’s current Book Repository contains over two million books and has been at full capacity for some time. Its environmental controls fall well below those required to preserve such collections of material, which are deteriorating rapidly,” noted Robin Adams, Trinity College Dublin Librarian and College Archivist.

The libraries are also pleased to announce financial support for their planning effort from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, a private philanthropy based in New York. The award (US $50,000) has been made to UCD to support the efforts of the three libraries. “We are grateful for the Mellon Foundation’s recognition of our commitment to preserve the nation’s knowledge resources and documentary cultural heritage materials,” stated John Howard. Fiona Ross said: “This support for planning to sustain our resources is a signal that our plans, while they serve national concerns, have both international interest and impact.”

Taken from the TCD Communications Office.

The Library Welcomes the UK Government’s Response to the Recent Public Consultation on Non-Print Legal Deposit

The UK Legal Deposit Libraries (including Trinity College Library Dublin) have welcomed the UK Government’s response to the public consultation on the ‘draft regulations and guidance for non-print legal deposit’ and its commitment to deliver regulations for non-print content.

In particular, the UK Legal Deposit Libraries welcome the UK Government’s move to regulate on:

–          The deposit of works on CD-ROM and other offline media;

–          The harvesting of online content, which will allow a great deal of material and most UK websites to be archived and thus avoid a digital black hole; and

–          Agreements with publishers for depositing the published digital equivalent of printed works in place of depositing the printed version. This, in the long term, will enable the Legal Deposit Libraries and the publishing sector to reduce costs.

The Legal Deposit Libraries will support the UK Government and work with the publishing industry to achieve these aims as well as provide any additional information required to ensure the success of these regulations.

In addition, the Libraries will work with the publishing industry to resolve any technical concerns and identify the true costs and public benefit of regulating on other methods of delivery. It is hoped that it will be possible to extend the regulations to cover such methods within a few years.

Notes

  • The Legal Deposit Libraries are:

The British Library, The National Library of Scotland, The National Library of Wales, Bodleian Library Oxford, Cambridge University Library and Trinity College Dublin.

Robin Adams, Librarian and College Archivist

7 April 2011

1641 Depositions – The Online Depositions Website

The website provides a fully searchable digital edition of the 1641 Depositions at Trinity College Dublin Library, comprising transcripts and images of all 8,000 depositions, examinations and associated materials in which Protestant men and women of all classes told of their experiences following the outbreak of the rebellion by the Catholic Irish in October, 1641.
About the Depositions
The 1641 Depositions (Trinity College Dublin, MSS 809-841) are witness testimonies mainly by Protestants, but also by some Catholics, from all social backgrounds, concerning their experiences of the 1641 Irish rebellion. The testimonies document the loss of goods, military activity, and the alleged crimes committed by the Irish insurgents, including assault, stripping, imprisonment and murder. This body of material is unparalleled anywhere in early modern Europe, and provides a unique source of information for the causes and events surrounding the 1641 rebellion and for the social, economic, cultural, religious, and political history of seventeenth-century Ireland, England and Scotland. Learn more about the Depositions and the project at http://1641.tcd.ie