Ninth Level Ireland

“This morning, College announced through an email to students that new arrangements regarding the Library were to come into effect from January 22, following the recent surge in Covid-19 cases across the country. As exams finish on January 22, College will instigate new arrangements for student access to the Library. The focus on these arrangements will be to balance the ‘provision for Library users’ with the health and safety of Library staff and students …” (more)

[Jamie Cox, Trinity News, 18 January]

“University College Dublin’s Students Union (UCDSU) has criticised the University’s Management Team (UMT) for failing to provide the necessary funds to run its libraries efficiently during the pandemic. This ‘failure’ has been labelled as indicative of the ‘concerning trend’ displayed by the UMT in failing to address student’s concerns …” (more)

[Gemma Farrell, College Tribune, 14 January]

“All UCD libraries have reopened from Monday 4th January, with the same COVID-19 precautionary measures in place from the autumn trimester. The opening times have not changed, with James Joyce library opening from 8:30 to 20:00, Monday to Friday. These measures include pre-booking library seats for which have been extended to allow for eight-hour slots …” (more)

[Mahnoor Choudhry, College Tribune, 4 January]

“I know the library is still there but on this we can all agree: it is not the same. The Berkeley, Hamilton, Ussher or – god forbid – the Lecky, that we all know, hate and love-to-hate have been changed beyond recognition, mere shells of their former selves …” (more)

[Aoife Kearins, University Times, 17 December]

“Four new sculptures of female scholars are to be commissioned by Trinity College Dublin, the first women to go on display in the university’s Old Library. Scientist Rosalind Franklin, folklorist and theatre-founder Augusta Gregory, mathematician Ada Lovelace and writer and women’s rights advocate Mary Wollstonecraft have been chosen from a list of more than 500 suggestions …” (more)

[Sarah Burns, Irish Times, 26 November]

“Trinity College Dublin is to commission four new sculptures – all representing women scholars – for display in the Long Room of the Old Library. The announcement comes a year after the university called on staff and students to submit nominations …” (more)

[Louise Kennedy, Independent, 26 November]

“There have been ‘constructive conversations’ in College about the name of the Berkeley Library, but Trinity currently has no plan to rename the library. In an email statement to The University Times, Tom Molloy, Trinity’s director of public affairs and communications, said: ‘Like many other institutions, the university is reflecting on its history and is addressing race and ethnicity to ensure the university is a place that is welcoming to all …'” (more)

[Sárán Fogarty, University Times, 24 November]

“The library has apologised to students for confusion caused by recent changes made to the library booking system. The changes, which include a 25-hour limit on booking per week and a new check-in system, were introduced in an effort to combat the number of students booking slots and failing to show up …” (more)

[Malachi Ó Marcaigh, University Times, 18 November]

“Students will now have a 45-minute window to check-in to the libraries, otherwise forfeiting their pre-booked seat, the library announced today. In recent days, people have raised concerns to the library about students booking slots and then failing to show up. In response the library has introduced a number of new rules starting from today …” (more)

[Cormac Watson, University Times, 16 November]

“In light of the recent conservation and redevelopment plans regarding a certain characteristic monument on campus, I have felt compelled to consider said monument, and to propose what case I can for its reconciliation with the student body …” (more)

[Olivia Bayne, Trinity News, 12 November]

“Any Trinity student who frequents the library, particularly during exam season, knows the all too familiar struggle of trying to find a seat: pacing the BLU, passing rows upon rows of occupied seats, or desks reserved with a pile of untouched books and a jacket. In October of last year, the practice of ‘desk hogging’ became such an issue that College hired teams of postgraduate students to manage the situation …” (more)

[Grace Gageby, Trinity News, 19 October]

“The James Joyce library will provide limited study spaces for undergraduate students this trimester in an effort to comply with COVID-19 restrictions and physical distancing guidelines. Additionally, opening hours have been minimised and there is currently no access to other UCD library locations …” (more)

[Emma Hanrahan, College Tribune, 21 August]

“Trinity’s libraries will re-open on a phased basis next week after more than three months, with a new book delivery service for researchers and a ‘click and collect’ facility. Kinsella Hall will be the first library space to re-open on June 29th, with the Berkeley, Lecky, Ussher, and Hamilton libraries and the John Stearne Medical Library opening on July 20th …” (more)

[Emer Moreau, University Times, 22 June]

“Trinity has received a grant of €2.7 million from Fáilte Ireland, Ireland’s government body for tourism, towards the overhaul of its Old Library. The reconfiguration of the 300-year-old building is part of a College strategy to improve the conditions in a library that houses some of its oldest manuscripts and book collections …” (more)

[Emer Moreau, University Times, 13 April]

“Higher education institutions are suffering tremendously from the impacts of the pandemic. And, as one university president noted last week, if any colleges and universities are unable to reopen for residential instruction in the fall due to the pandemic’s continuing effects, the results will be ‘cataclysmic’. Even putting aside worst case scenarios, instability in the economy means that many higher education institutions will likely face reduced revenue this upcoming academic year …” (more)

[Roger C Schonfeld and Christine Wolff-Eisenberg, The Scholarly Kitchen, 6 April]

“I study in Leipzig in Western Saxony. That’s in Eastern Germany between Berlin and Munich. When I finished secondary school, I worked as a volunteer in a children’s library for one year. I really liked that and decided a library career was for me …” (more)

[Theres Rudolph, libfocus, 30 March]

“As higher education institutions in the United States began to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic by moving classes online, emptying residence halls, and authorizing remote work, academic librarians found themselves in need of real-time information – not only about their own institution’s practices, but also how other libraries were responding …” (more)

[Lisa Janicke Hinchliffe and Christine Wolff-Eisenberg, The Scholarly Kitchen, 23 March]

“University College Dublin (UCD) is to open one of its libraries on campus for students without internet or laptop access at home, despite a two-week shutdown of schools and colleges ordered in response to the coronavirus outbreak …” (more)

[Jack Power, Irish Times, 17 March]

“The number of study spaces in Trinity’s libraries will be reduced to allow for ‘social distancing’ in an effort to prevent the spread of coronavirus. Caoimhe Ní Lochlainn, Trinity’s Head of Library Communications, confirmed to Trinity News that the library is ‘looking at how best to implement the guidelines on social distancing, with the recommended 1 metre between our readers’ …” (more)

[Finn Purdy, Trinity News, 11 March]

“NUI Galway has begun the process of recruiting a project management team to oversee the development of a €39-million interactive learning facility, the first of its kind in Ireland …” (more)

[Galway Advertiser, 5 March]