Libraries across every Irish county to benefit from new digital tech to help boost reading and literacy

Libraries across every county of Ireland are set to benefit from the rollout of a new software system to boost national and local efforts to encourage more reading and improve literacy (@CivicaUK)

The Local Government Management Agency (LGMA), a state body that provides a range of professional services to local authorities, is working with global software provider Civica to implement the cloud Spydus library management platform in all public libraries across Ireland’s 31 local authorities.

A complete solution for library management, Spydus will support national programmes to inspire, connect and empower communities and improve reading and literacy. The new software will support the government’s Our Public Libraries 2022 national public library strategy.

Public libraries across Ireland provide a range of learning and culture services with over 17 million visits per year: accessing more than 13 million physical books and tens of thousands of eBooks and eAudiobooks.

The new five-year contract will run across all of Ireland’s 330 library branches and 29 mobile libraries. The cloud software will make it easier to automate a range of processes, including inter-library loans, stock rotation and lending.

Spydus is already used by more than 1,500 libraries in countries across the world, including the UK, Australia, Singapore, New Zealand and North America.

Stuart Hamilton, Head of Libraries Development at the Local Government Management Agency said:

“Our aim is to inspire, connect and empower communities through our libraries – helping to improve literacy and access to books and digital formats for everyone. Spydus is really flexible so we can meet the needs of local libraries and visitors, while improved automation will mean our library staff can spend more time adding value where it’s needed most.”

Jon Tucker, Managing Director of Education and Libraries at Civica added:

“Our Spydus solution manages all resources, libraries, archives, digital content and events from a single database. By joining up national and local library collections with all patrons in this new way, we’re supporting library activities and initiatives in education, culture, wellbeing and work, as a trusted partner to the long-term LGMA library strategy.”