Maynooth library project to create 150 building jobs

More than 150 building jobs are to be created with the construction of a new university library at Maynooth, it was revealed today.

Another 20 staff are expected to be employed to help run the state-of-the-art facility when it opens in 2011.

Education Minister Batt O’Keeffe said plans for the new library was prompted by a surge in enrolments at NUI Maynooth in recent years.

“The need for this extension reflects the increased and growing student numbers attending the university,” he said.

Once completed, the new library, which will cost around €20m, will double the size of the existing library, providing spaces for more than 1,200 students at any one time.

Architects, to be appointed within weeks, will be asked to create a signature building which will become a focal point for the campus. The planning application is to be submitted in the first half of next year.

The latest information technology innovations are to be installed in the library, alongside the 455,000 books, 500 open IT areas and more than 6,000 DVDs.

Full Wi-Fi access will also be available throughout the building.

Professor John Hughes, president of NUI Maynooth, said the new building was a great development for the university.

“As Ireland’s fastest growing university, this library extension will provide our students with an even more modern learning environment to develop their skills and knowledge,” he said.

Construction is expected to begin by December next year.