KILDARE: Naas library building will not be handed over for community use
The community library building in Naas will not be handed over for community use once the new premises opens at the town hall.
Another request for the building to be earmarked for the activities of a variety of community groups has fallen on deaf ears.
It came from Naas Mayor Bill Clear who said there is an acute shortage of community spaces in the town.
Calling for a decision to use the building to house archives he said: "We have many community groups without a home including Naas Women's Shed, Down Syndrome Ireland, Alzheimer Cafe to name but a few.”
He suggested that the archives be moved to “an alternative location that might be more suitable for this type of storage.”
A Naas Municipal District meeting was told that the Local Studies, Genealogy and Archives Service (LSGA) had to leave the old County Library building in Newbridge in 2020 “under emergency conditions due to the deterioration of the building and to avoid damage to the collection.”
The staff and the collection relocated to rented accommodation in Kildare town pending the availability of the present library building in Naas.
Since then, physical access to the collection for historians, researchers, student and tourists has been closed.
According to KCC official Gillian Allen the rented unit is also no longer suitable for safe storage of the collection and locating the LSGA to to the former library building will ensure a safe, temperature-controlled storage facility guaranteeing the survival of the collection.
“It will also be a customer service six days per week to anyone conducting research on Kildare and its history, genealogy and family tree research or for anyone requiring access to the archives. The building in the centre of Naas is an ideal temporary location to reintroduce access to the collection for members of the public and tourists after three long years without this important service,” said Ms Allen in a report.
The LGSA team team will work in the building identifying and conserving Kildare related historical materials, providing research facilities and support to historians and students as well as attracting tourists tracing their ancestors to County Kildare.
The location will also allow programmed events, talks and exhibitions of material from the collection for the public and tourists. It’ll also be possible to again facilitate school visits which haven’t been possible for the last three years.
The move is an interim one until the County Library in Newbridge is completed.
It was also pointed out that the Town Hall library will have numerous meeting rooms that can be booked by community groups.KCC remains open to suggestions in relation to the longer= term use of the library premises.