Vol. 483 No. 5
11 Ms McManus asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands when it is intended to appoint a permanent director at the National Library; the proposals, if any, she has to extend the hours of opening of the Library; if she will confirm that no bookbinding has been undertaken at the Library for a number of years; the plans, if any, there are to provide adequate bookbinding facilities; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [20651/97]
It is planned that a competition will be organised through the Civil Service Commission with a view to the appointment of full-time director of the National Library in the second half of next year.
With regard to the opening hours of the library I am pleased to say that the opening hours were recently extended as on and from the 10 November of this year. For some years now the library was closed to the public on Tuesdays and Wednesdays until 2 p.m. As a result of the changes the Library is now open from 10 a.m. from Monday to Saturday.
The annual library stock-taking process which involved closure of the library for a period of between two to four weeks in each year has now also been changed to a stock-taking process that will not involve any closure of the library. These changes represent a major improvement in service for National Library users and I compliment all the staff of the library on their efforts in facilitating this development.
With regard to the provision of a book and periodical binding service, the National Library uses a variety of methods to help preserve the materials in its collections and choose the most appropriate and cost effective method for each category of material. There has never been an inhouse book binding service in the National Library.
