Sir, – I write on behalf of the professional staff of the National Library of Ireland who are members of Impact to express our concerns about the proposed reform of the National Library. We are in agreement with recent commentators and correspondents to this newspaper (Fintan O’Toole, Michael Ryan and Felix M Larkin) in their negative assessment of the decision by the Minister for Arts to abolish the board of the National Library and replace it with an advisory council serving both the National Library and the National Museum.
Reform of the library was undertaken in 2005 when it became a semi-state body. The National Cultural Institutions Act (1997) legislated for this to enable the library to work independently, with its own board. A great deal of time and effort were expended by civil servants and library staff to bring its provisions into effect. It seems a waste of scarce public resources to attempt to undo this work, with little prospect of any real gain and, probably, considerable loss.
The National Library and the National Museum have entirely different functions, with no natural connection. The National Library collects and makes accessible the printed, manuscript and visual record of the life of the nation and is meeting the demands of the digital era by digitising its own collections and by capturing born-digital material. It is vital that the National Library be able to maintain and promote its own identity and autonomy to attract the philanthropic funding now necessary to carry out its mission.
The National Library will always require a core of funding to carry out the day-to-day work of acquiring, processing and preserving publications and historic documentary material. It has suffered a decline of 85 per cent in purchasing power since 2008. Its overall budget has been cut by 44 per cent in the same period. This compares to the 28 per cent cut imposed on the other cultural institutions. We fear this trend will worsen under the governance structure proposed.
The current proposal cannot adequately serve the National Library, the National Museum or the citizens of the State. – Yours, etc,