Ms Patricia Cusack:

We were particularly fortunate with the building that we had, which was built and opened in 2007. We had no real difficulties with the physical building. We had a space that had been used as a little language lab, which we no longer needed for use because we had other computers on the floor. We were able to redesign that room with the advice and assistance of the company that did the installation, which was quite expert. I suppose we were starting from a fortunate place in terms of the physical infrastructure. All library branches will be quite different. Some will be quite small and may not have the space required. The important point to make is that while some may not be able to provide a specifically-designated room, which is what we have done, libraries can still provide sensory toys or a sensory corner and can still be autism-friendly libraries. Perhaps going forward, when starting from scratch, all new buildings can be designed to include a sensory room and a sensory space.

The Deputy's second question concerned resistance. Certainly, the staff were incredibly enthusiastic. My colleague at the time, Pam Byrne, who drew up the project, took on the responsibility of the educational part of it with great enthusiasm. We learned a tremendous amount through her and through networking with the organisations and the people in schools. I would say that there was not resistance to change. What has happened is that members of the public who come into the library and our regular users are really happy to see this kind of broadening out of our service. The public library is a great institution that provides a service for everybody. I certainly remember feeling challenged in the early days of the project, and some of that was down to needing training and needing to understand better how to work with people. However, overall, I feel that the positives from it have been tremendous. I hope that we will become more and more inclusive going forward. I feel that we saw and are seeing a community that was invisible in a certain sense, particularly in terms of people coming from the Brothers of Charity Services and care in the community groups. In my experience, they had not been coming into the library in significant numbers before that. It is a wonderful thing that they are now able to come into the library.