Over 1,000 children attended the Festival which was the best to date - thanks to the £2,000 allocation from the National Reading Initiative and sponsorship from Dunnes Stores Kilkenny and Library suppliers. There were “live performances” in all branches. These included: author and Wildlife ranger visits, Krusty the Clown, Magic and Puppet shows, History Live: Viking and Celts and Jester Stage Academy’s storytime. There were art and craft and creative writing workshops, competitions and quizzes, as well as presentations to Summer Reading Scheme participants.

This project which was funded by the National Reading Initiative provided a book pack containing five quality children’s books and an accompanying parents guide, for all children born in the year 2000 at their 9 month developmental check-up in their local Health Centre. Kilkenny County Library managed this nationwide project at local level. Over 5,000 books and guides were packed by Library staff -together with a brochure on Library Services for Children- and delivered to all Health Centres Countywide.

The staff of Urlingford Library were successful in receiving funding of £1,560 from the National Reading Initiative for a “Reading is fun” project. The aim is promote reading in the Community through the Library.  Activities include: Reading schemes for Children e.g. Summer Book Club for all age groups, a Bookworm for 0-8yrs and Library Activity folder for 9-14yrs; Author visits e.g. Siobhan Parkinson and a talk about books for parents of pre-school children.

Staff and members of the Public celebrated the 1^st Birthday of the Thomas Coogan Library, Castlecomer and Daffodil day on the 23^rd March, with a coffee morning, raising £700 for the Irish Cancer Society.

Junior Library members took part in the annual Castlecomer Wellie race under the banner “Millenium Pageant” which was designed by Kilkenny Employment for Youth. The event raised funds for many local charities and causes.

The second issue of Castlecomer Library News was released. It was full of useful information including details of Library events and activities, Library Services, book reviews and recommendations, local information, cool Internet reading sites for kids and 10 ways to use your library card! A Web page for Castlecomer Library was also initiated during the year. The shortcut address is clik.to/castlecomerlibrary

The City Library hosted a very successful coffee morning on the 5^th May and raised £270 for People in Need Telethon 2000. The money was given to local charities.

The inaugural lecture by County Librarian James Fogarty, in the Third Maynooth / Radio Kilkenny Lecture series, was broadcast on Radio Kilkenny on the 7^th May and repeated on the 10^th May. “Ten Kilkenny Writers” focused on the contribution to Anglo-Irish Literature of a selection of Kilkenny writers including Francis McManus and the Banim brothers.

There were a number of author visits during the year to the different branches around the County including: Siobhan Parkinson, Larry O’Loughlin, Eddie Lenihan and Poet Declan Lucey.

The Local Studies’ section continued with its policy of acquiring Kilkenny interest papers with its acquisition of the Kilkenny Independent, 1826-28 and the Kilkenny People 1997-98 on microfilm. The Local Studies’ section had a busy year helping local researchers, including students of the B.A. in Local and Community Studies, as well as researchers from around the world. This year marked the first year that queries received via E-mail have outpaced those from more conventional sources. Queries received from this source now average up to five per day. The Section is in the advanced stages of publishing a web-site with a specific local studies focus. It is hoped to go live with this in the year 2001.