Brian Leddin (Limerick City, Green Party)
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13. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth to provide an update on the My Little Library book programme for young children; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43359/24]

Marc Ó Cathasaigh (Waterford, Green Party)
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I love the library. When Tramore library closed for extensive refurbishment that ran over a couple of years, we missed it badly. My kids love the Dog Man series of books. While they might not be on the reading list of the Minister, they are great books. They cost €13 a pop, however, and the kids finish them in approximately one hour and say, thanks Dad.

Getting into the library drives down that cost, obviously. I wish to ask the Minister about the Little Library book programme which is designed to get people in the door in that first instance.

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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The Little Library universal initiative funded by my Department focuses on strengthening the links between families and their local libraries, as well as encouraging a love of storybooks and reading among young children. The initiative has shown great success with over 70,000 young children having joined their local library because of the Little Library programme. The programme’s primary aims are to promote literacy among all young children in Ireland through an annual book-gifting scheme for children in transitions from pre-school to school. It aims to foster relationships between children and families with their local libraries in order that all children are able to access a lifelong supply of books and are welcomed into their local library as a multi-purpose educational and social space.

It also aims to encourage parent-child bonding through reading as well. I particularly note an innovative reading for fun project through the Dublin prisons visitor centres funded by the Children’s Fund through my Department. It also serves to connect local libraries and early learning and childcare services through the provision of educator library cards, visits and storytelling events.

Just as much as Deputy Ó Cathasaigh has spoken about Tramore library, I equally remember Blanchardstown library when it used to be located in the upper floor of an old building in Roselawn Shopping Centre. While it was a small place, it was always a magical place of me. I used to steal my mother’s adult library card in order to get a couple of more books, particularly some nice whale books. I went for the whale books; that was my thing. It is a hugely important area. I was proud to launch Little Libraries in the new Blanchardstown library, which is a much bigger, multi-purpose building in Blanchardstown town centre beside Fingal County Council offices. One of our local childcare providers arrived with all its young people and they were able to sign up for their library cards. Not only does the individual get the benefit of knowing the library, it is also about that link between the service and the library because it opens up future visits to bed-down that love of books among young people.

Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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Deputy Marc Ó Cathasaigh will only get one chance to reply.

Marc Ó Cathasaigh (Waterford, Green Party)
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That is no problem. I am fully in support of this programme. It is fantastic. I am a Dad, but I was also a teacher in a previous life.

Bringing school kids to the library and establishing those links is so important in terms of literacy and encouraging kids to read for fun. It has so many benefits in their later life, not only in their progression in literacy but in their access to so many other resources as well. We are talking about an initiative that saves money, builds community and gets kids reading - so much winning, as somebody across the Atlantic might say - so we should do everything we can to improve it and to further fund it.

The one issue I will raise, which I know we have engaged on already, is that Irish-language books should be made available. Ba cheart go mbeadh leabhair ann i nGaeilge freisin ionas go dtabharfaimis an tacaíocht sin do thuismitheoirí atá ag tógáil clainne trí mheán na Gaeilge. It is very important if you are trying to raise your kids through Irish, which can be difficult, that these resources are put in place as well.

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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I cannot speak our national language with the Deputy's sense of competence, to my shame. When we designed the little book bag programme, which is part of the little libraries initiative, whereby a bag of books was given to each child, in the English-language bag there was at least one Irish-language book. There were also bags with solely Irish-language books. They supported domestic Irish authors and producers of books. We have been very cognisant of the need to support the Irish language. One thing that was seen previously was that there was not a whole lot of Irish-language books for young people. We have been cognisant of that and have included such books in our little book bag programme.