Sir, - The Library Association of Ireland has broadly welcomed Minister Higgins's Cultural Institutions Bill, as we believe that the proposed arrangements will serve to strengthen the National Library and aid its development. The association would be even more delighted to welcome the intention of the Department of Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht to address the staffing and resource issues highlighted by the former Director, Pat Donlon.
Unfortunately, no such intention is evident from the department's actions. One indication of the disregard in which the library is held by the department can be seen in the recent advertisement for a replacement for Dr. Donlon. The salary for the position, pegged at the lowest point of the scale and for a contract period of five years only, is a disgrace, and the idea that the Director of one of the most important libraries in the country need not be a professional librarian will strike most people as absurd.
The Minister has done well in producing the Cultural Institutions Bill, but legislation alone will not give us the National Library we deserve. - Yours, etc.,
President,
The Library Association of Ireland.
53-54 Upper Mount Street,
Dublin 2.