Open day to celebrate reopening of east Mayo library
By Darina Molloy, Mayo County Library
OUR library in Charlestown is now back in business and we’re delighted to invite you all to an open day in the library tomorrow (Wednesday, December 6). The celebrations will kick off at 10 a.m., with the official re-opening formalities and photos at 1 p.m.
There will be story time sessions, with local classes invited to join in, and a local history session, a chance for photos and, above all, a sense of celebration at the welcome return of a library service to the Charlestown community.
For those whose membership may have lapsed, or who might not have been into a library for a while, the great news is that library membership is now completely free, and we don’t charge late fees if you are a little late returning your books.
So what can you expect from Charlestown Library?
Well, like all of our other libraries in Mayo, there is a full stock of lovely shiny, new books (along with a few old treasures as well!) for all ages. There are film and box set DVDs for those who haven’t fully embraced streaming (or who just prefer to catch up on stuff they’ve missed) and music CDs from a range of singers and bands, both Irish and international.
With your free library card (did we mention that already?!) you will also be able to download free (there’s that word again, we sense a theme…) ebooks, audiobooks, magazines, newspapers and learning courses directly to your phone, tablet or laptop.
For those of us who haven’t quite mastered the art of reading while we’re enjoying a walk or doing a bit of gardening or even just making the dinner, there’s something very satisfying about having someone else read the book to you directly from your phone.
Your Mayo library card works in each of our 14 libraries throughout the county, and it also works in all other public libraries in Ireland - borrow a book in Galway when you’re there for a day, or from Cork on your summer break, and you can return it in Mayo.
We also realise that some of the children who started school in the Charlestown area this past September may not have heard about our special free Little Library Bag of books for every child starting school this year - those bags are now available to collect from the library. There are free Bedtime Story books (one per child) in Irish or English also available to those aged up to four.
There’s also a lovely wallet for your little one’s free library card.
The weekly opening hours in Charlestown Library are as follows:
Tuesday: 12 to 7 p.m.
Thursday: 12 to 7 p.m.
Saturday: 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
And, of course, this week there’s the added bonus of open day - tomorrow, Wednesday, December 6, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. All are welcome.
If you want any more information about the open day, or about any aspect of services in Charlestown Library, please don’t hesitate to contact Elizabeth at (094) 9255934 or emaher@mayococo.ie.