Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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211. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government the reason the four Dublin local authority library services are not participating in the so-called nationwide sharing of library book stock and in the national library management system. [29221/16]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The national library management system being introduced for all public libraries will provide significant benefits to the public. The system will facilitate a number of new services such as a single membership card across all public libraries, universal membership for all children and a virtual library. The quality and strength of the library collections will be enhanced and resource-sharing between libraries will increase.

The four Dublin local authorities are participating in the national library management system, the implementation of which is being managed by Dublin City Council on behalf of the sector.

A collection and delivery system is also being trialled on a pilot basis for thirteen local authorities. The pilot will examine the business case for shared access to the collections of all authorities and a decision will be made on the national roll-out of the service in early 2017.