Kildare library has new librarian & longer opening hours

GENTERATING footfall is key to any business, and is no less important to a community social operation like a local library. That's why Kilcullen's new Librarian, Ita Casey, is planning a range of activities to draw people into the town's community library.

Activities for children, including craft workshops, story times, and a young readers festival, are high on the list of initiatives in train. But adults won’t be left out, Ita promises, noting plans for themed exhibitions and local studies events, among others. 

“My predecessor, the wonderful Julie O'Donoghue, will be a hard act to follow,” she told the Kildare Nationalist. 

“But I hope to follow up on her great work.” 

Ita, who took over the Kilcullen role at the end of February after Julie’s retirement, was formerly a marine scientist, a career she really enjoyed for many years. But she says she always had an interest in library work, and decided to go for it when her children were older.

A Dubliner, she has lived in Galway and Cork, but these days is settled in Newbridge, which she finds really convenient for Kilcullen. 

Her most recent library post was in Celbridge, and prior to that, she served in Wicklow, Blessington and Bray.

Ita appreciates the level of investment that Kildare is putting into the service. 

“It’s great, too, that they turn older buildings into libraries, like the church in Athy, the Town Hall in Naas, and here.” 

She loves the fact that the Kilcullen premises were formerly the Boys School, and has already noticed the number of men who have come in and mentioned that they went to school in the Kilcullen building.

More than €11 million was allocated to the Kildare Library Service in the five years from 2020, and with additional funding from the Council's own resources, the IT and library management systems were upgraded. 

A range of initiatives aimed at bringing more people into libraries was also implemented. 

There's room for plenty of growth — just 15 per cent of the county's population were library members, according to a recent survey. In the Building for Tomorrow KLS Development Plan 2025-2029, seven key areas for enhancement are identified, relating to content, community, heritage, spaces, staff, infrastructure and environment. There's a lot going to happen.

With Ita’s arrival in Kilcullen has come extended library opening hours. She says people have already welcomed this — the library is now open six hours a day Tuesday through Saturday, with a half-day on Wednesday and late opening on Thursday. 

The extra time will facilitate Kilcullen’s now larger population, with the full day on Saturday being especially useful for people working during the week.

A special exhibition is planned for Biodiversity Week, which runs from 15-24 May. 

“It's a set of wildlife drawings, which I think will be of great interest to many people.” 

Another idea which Ita is working on is to have daily papers available in the Library, something which would be of particular interest to people living on their own, offering an opportunity and a neutral, non-commercial space in which to socialise.

Libraries today are much more than places of books and hush. They offer an increasing variety of reasons to visit them. Kilcullen is no exception.

New opening hours. Monday: closed Tuesday: 10am-1pm and 2pm-5pm; Wednesday: 10am-1pm; Thursday: 1.30pm-5pm and 5.45pm-8pm; Friday: 10am-1pm and 2pm-5pm Saturday: 10am-1pm and 2pm-5pm