Squeeze in a read in Limerick for Ireland Reads Day
A LIMERICK librarian is asking everyone to read this Saturday.
Library cards are free, meaning members can have access to over 12 million items from books, to ebooks, audiobooks, magazines, newspapers and more.
“Ireland Reads Day is a campaign designed to encourage people to read and we're really hoping that everybody joins us and reads, to remind ourselves of the great benefits of reading as well, the positive elements of it. But we're really hoping that everybody will make a big effort this Saturday (February 25). It's our National Day of Reading and we want everyone to find a few minutes to squeeze in a read for Ireland Reads,” Executive Librarian Julie McLoughlin said.
During the pandemic all libraries were forced to close but since restrictions were lifted, they could open their doors to events, study spaces and reading.
“We have story time, we have book clubs, we have Lego clubs with knitting circles, we have a Scrabble club meeting in one of our branches at the moment. We have author events, creative writing workshops, poetry readings. We have a really wide program of events and it's brilliant to be able to get back into that again,” she added.
Anyone who signs up to a free library card has access to millions of reading materials but also access to online apps where digital versions of books, magazines and newspapers and available.
Participants can pledge their time to read here: https://www.irelandreads.ie/
“The most popular one would be BorrowBox and that allows you to borrow eBooks and audiobooks. Libby is a great app as well, and it gives you access to literally thousands of titles, digital magazines, graphic novels, comics for our younger readers. So you have access to all of those, and again, for free,” she told the Limerick Leader.
Social media has had a profound effect on how we live our lives and consume our content and one of the fastest growing apps, TikTok, has seen the emergence of BookTok.
The phrase refers to books that are popular due to users on the platform posting and sharing reviews with Julie adding; “it's brilliant to open up the world of reading to people who mightn't just have had the time, nor maybe the interest before.”
Over the last two years 1.15 million minutes of reading were pledged for Ireland Reads Day.