A NEW chapter is about to begin in the story of Askeaton Library with plans now afoot for it to take up residence in the former Bank of Ireland building in the West Limerick town.
At January’s meeting of councillors in the Adare-Rathkeale Municipal District, Limerick City and County librarian Damien Brady spoke of plans to repurpose the former bank in the town’s Square as a “vibrant centre for community engagement”.
Due to open in March this year, the building, previously home to Ukrainian refugees, is set to be fitted with shelving and other amenities at a cost of €40,000, to establish a new library for Askeaton.
The former Carnegie Library, situated on the banks of the River Deel, was prone to flooding and was not deemed “fit for purpose” by local representatives. First opened in 1907, council members will decide in the near future a new use for the historic building.
For now, a new page turns on library services in the county’s oldest town, with rapid progress taking place to provide the local community with a modern facility for cultural and civic activities.
Mr Brady envisaged the new library as a space where people can “reduce fear in older people around technology bringing them into the 21st Century”.
“We have the responsibility for getting the bills paid, getting the building safe and ready. We don’t take over anything. We don’t own anything. It belongs to the community and that’s the space we want to get to.
“We want to improve accessibility, to enhance visitor access to more modern facilities. We want to enhance the library services, public PCs, printing kiosks, dedicated service spaces. With all the technology, with the rollout of broadband, people are still coming to use the high broadband speeds we have in our libraries, the printing services that we have in our libraries,” Mr Brady explained.
The Council librarian told Council members that he envisaged the new library to be open in March this year following structural upgrades, mechanical and electric works, as well as meeting health, safety, and security regulations.
“There’s huge vaults in the bank. There must have been a lot of money in Askeaton. God forbid, if anyone ever got stuck behind those as you couldn’t open them with dynamite. We’ve had to seal those, they are ginormous.
“This is a positive opportunity for the town and we look forward to working with you to deliver the project,” he commented.
Fine Gael councillor Adam Teskey said he considered this a good news story for Askeaton.
“We have had some good news stories in terms of the opening of the parklets, the swimming pool reopened, and now we have the library restored. To a lot of the political commentators locally in the town that would question local representatives around this table, I would say, ‘here’s your answer, lads’,” Cllr Teskey concluded.