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.