National Library’s buying power "plummets" amid stretched resources

The National Library of Ireland has said it is struggling to pay for new books and cannot open up some collections because of a lack of storage space.

Catherine Fahy, acting director of the NLI, also said last year had been “a difficult time” for the National Library and repeated cuts to resources and staffing meant the facility was now “in the unpleasant situation of assessing whether it will be possible to maintain certain services”.

Ms Fahy made her comments in the NLI’s National Review for last year, which highlights the growth in visitor numbers. In 2013 a quarter of a million people visited the NLI — up 42% on the figure for the previous year and 85% more than in 2009.

The NLI also experienced a growth in online visitors, with 7.3m interactions in addition to 20,000 followers reached on Facebook and Twitter.

It also purchased or received a total of 16,000 books, newspapers and periodicals under legal deposit, including rare items and newly published material. Attractions such as the Yeats Exhibition, Photographic Archive and the Family History Room pulled in large numbers of visitors.

Its book collections include the personal library of WB Years and 500 early editions of works by Jonathan Swift, while the NLI also houses glass plate images going back to 1860, and provides a genealogy advisory service.

However, the growth in popularity of the NLI has not absolved it from financial worries.

Writing in the report, Ms Fahy said: “Since 2008, we have suffered from year-on-year funding cutbacks, and we now receive 44% less funding than we did five years ago.

“Coupled with decreasing numbers of staff and increasing demand for our services, this means we are being squeezed from all sides.

“While we are delighted to have ever higher numbers of visitors to the NLI, we have fewer and fewer resources with which to serve them. Our full-time staff numbers have decreased by 23% since 2008.”

* Full report at www.nli.ie