Council to press ahead with My Open Library plan for Athlone

Westmeath County Council is seeking to appoint contractors for upgrading and alteration works to the Aidan Heavey Library in Athlone as it presses ahead with plans to introduce the long-awaited My Open Library service.

The local authority is planning to adapt the existing library to meet the requirements of a My Open Library facility. The works will include the creation of a new library entrance, alterations to the existing lift shaft to meet current requirements and an upgrade of the electrics.

The closing date for applications from construction companies for the project is June 13 next, and the duration of the contract is six months.

My Open Library (MOL) – which was first intoduced in 2014 - is a scheme which allows self-service access to the library outside of staffed times, between 8am to 10pm 365 days per year. Access to the library is gained by members of the scheme by swiping a card, and the move has been hugely successful in increasing library membership.

Moves to introduce My Open Library in Athlone have been ongoing for a number of years. The issue has been raised on numerous occasions at meetings of the Athlone-Moate Municipal District, where members have vented their frustrations at the delay in introducing the facility in the Aidan Heavey Library.

Cllr Aengus O'Rourke received strong backing for a call he made over two years ago for Athlone library to be extended to provide a “world class library and learning facility” in the town, and he has been a vocal critic since then of the lack of progress made. Having called for a feasibility study to be carried out on expanding the library in April 2023, he was told in February of this year that work on the planned study into the possible upgrading of the local library has yet to get underway.

In response to a question he tabled before the October 2024 meeting of the municipal district querying the delay in introducting My Open Library in Athlone, Cllr O'Rourke was told that a Fire Certificate Application Process would need to be carried out to adapt the Fire Strategy for the entire Civic Centre. While the process for the Fire Certificate Report was complete at that stage, and a Fire Certificate application had been submitted, the council said it would “move forward” with the appointment of contractors to carry out the necessary works once the Fire Certificate was approved.

The issue came up for discussion again in February of this year, when a written response provided to members stated that the integration of the My Open Library into the existing library in Athlone would have an impact on the fire certification for the building in its entirety.

“There is also a requirement to replace the existing platform lift which no longer complies with safety requirements through the modification of the existing lift shaft and installation of a new platform lift. Tender documents for the proposed works are currently being prepared,” stated the written reply.

A new Westmeath County Librarian, Paula Leavy McCarthy, was appointed last year and among the priorities set out in a 36-page four-year development plan for the library service in Westmeath which she brought before the February 2024 meeting of the local authority were a new libary for Kinnegad, the upgrade of Kilbeggan library and the introduction of the My Open Library service in Athlone.

The self-service activities available to members during My Open Library hours include: stock issue and return; internet usage on PC and Wi-Fi for use on own device; printing, photocopying and scanning facilities; studying and reading spaces; meeting space, and access to toilet facilities.

The My Open Library initiative was introduced on a pilot basis in Banagher, Tullamore and Tubbercurry libraries in 2014 and is currently available in 54 library branches nationwide.

To date, My Open Library funding to the tune of over €266,000 has been provided to three libraries in Westmeath for the introduction of My Open Library services with the bulk of the funding going to Castlepollard (€115,974). Mullingar Library received €75,668 while Moate Library received €74,742.