During our break my classmate Sarah and I made plans to visit Northern Ireland. While making our travel plans we discovered that there was a Carnegie library very close to our hotel. Since our class had been spending time visiting Carnegie associated libraries, we figured it would be a good chance to see one in Northern Ireland. The Bangor Carnegie Library is located in the large resort town of Bangor, County Down, Northern Ireland. Bangor has been a top tourist destination in Northern Ireland for years.
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Bangor Carnegie Library circa 1910 courtesy of : http://www.historyireland.com/20th-century-contemporary-history/carnegie-libraries-in-ireland/
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The library was designed by E.L. Wood and opened in 1909. It was initially both a library and a technical school. In 2009 the building was renovated and a 3 story extension was added to the rear of the building. The original part of the building now houses only children’s section of the library. As you can see from the picture below, the addition to the building is quite large.
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| Rear view of
the Bangor Carnegie Library with Sarah Norrell, July 19th, 2014. You
can see the original portion of the building to the left. | | | | | | | | | | | | |
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We were told by staff members that this particular library is the busiest in Northern Ireland. Their catalog is online and books can be transferred between other libraries in Northern Ireland. They use SirsiDynix software throughout Northern Ireland public libraries. The library offered audio books, large print books, mp3's and Playaways for those patrons who might have vision issues. There are many computers on each level of the library. The second floor of the children's department has 8 teen use computers and 4 juvenile computers. They also have 2 self check out/in units on this floor. On the first floor there is an e-info service desk in the computer lab area of the library. In that area they have 30 computers in addition to a separate classroom computer learning lab.
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| Me in front of the old (no longer in use) entrance to the library. This is the original Carnegie section of the Bangor Carnegie Library. July 19th, 2014. |
The main entrance is accessible from the new section of the building. The library has an elevator and three floors including the ground level. The main entrance lobby has two self service check-out/in units. There is also a clerk located at a reception desk in this area to help serve any patrons experiencing issues (which we witnessed while there).
The two upper floors had a"social space" located outside the main area. The social space had various vending machines, tables and comfy chairs. It also had a display of books from a list they called "The Perfect Library". Upon further research I discovered that The Perfect Library is a list of beloved novels compiled by a team of librarians from various Northern Ireland libraries. Recommendations for the list came from library customers, local politicians and celebrities, as well as the general public. The final list consists of 164 fiction novels of various genres.
