Jimmy Deenihan
Question:208 Mr. Deenihan asked the Minister for Education if he will make a special grant available for the provision of school libraries where they do not exist at the moment.
Written Answers. - School Library Grants.
The position is that in 1971 an arrangement was made through the Library Council, whereby local authority librarians would provide library services to primary schools. My Department agreed to make a grant available for this purpose. The grant has been increased for 1992 from 38p per pupil to 47p per pupil.
The grant is paid in respect of all primary school pupils in each local authority area. The money is distributed to the chief librarian of the local authority area and, supplemented by other funds at the disposal of the librarian, it is used to buy books for lending or distribution to schools.
In 1989 my Department provided an allocation of £1 million funded by the national lottery for the replenishment of the stock of books used for the national school libraries scheme. In the case of second level schools the Department make grants available for the running costs of the schools and it is open to schools to buy books for their libraries out of these grants.