Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent)
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299. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government if his attention has been drawn to the issues raised regarding staffless hours in libraries across the country, including the fact that the Local Government Management Agency report on the pilot project in libraries in counties Offaly and Sligo showed small numbers of staffless hours usage; the way in which he is certain that the provision of capital funding for local authorities to introduce staffless hours is in fact in the best interests of the communities affected; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37571/16]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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‘My Open Library’ is an initiative under Opportunities for All, the national public library strategy 2013-2017 and is part of a strategy to address customer demand. It provides additional opening hours from 8am to 10pm, seven days-per-week, ensuring access to library services for users who cannot avail of them during regular staffed hours.

On foot of a successful initial trial of the service in Tullamore, Banagher and Tubbercurry libraries from November 2014, it is now planned to roll-out the service across a further 23 pilot library branches from January 2017. I am satisfied that the learning captured to date justifies extending the pilot phase. The extended pilot phase will inform and shape the future development and implementation of the service across the broader library network, working through any service delivery issues that might arise in the meantime.

‘My Open Library’ has operated very successfully to date and the data captured by local authorities support this position. Library usage and number of items borrowed has increased significantly. In Offaly, for example, some 1,700 people have registered to use the service since January 2015, with a 91% increase in ‘My Open Library’ use in Tullamore and Banagher so far in 2016. This equates to almost 20,000 visits during the ‘My Open Library’ hours.

Feedback from users has been very positive. ‘My Open Library’ has made community spaces and collections available to library members and communities, providing access to commuters, students and families at times when the library would be otherwise unavailable. Each library is now open to the community for 98 hours per week, an increase from 47 hours and 14 hours per week in Tullamore and Banagher, respectively, since the introduction of the service.