THE PROFESSION

Abstract

The history of the early years of the library movement in Ireland must be read in conjunction with its political counterpart in order to understand why, although the enabling Acts were almost contemporaneous with those in Britain, little or no growth took place in public sector libraries outside the major cities in the turbulent times before 1928. The academic libraries looked for scholarly excellence and subject specialisation in their staff and were satisfied that, given these qualifications, the collection and organisation of their book resources were adequately catered for. But the pressure of a lending system, with its requirement of an organised and controllable lending stock, ensured that those engaged in it in the major urban centres quickly recognised the need for special qualification, and turned to the Library Association in Britain to follow its courses leading to Fellowship. The need for an Irish library school was perceived, and Adams suggested Dublin as its base, as early as 1919. Little progress was recorded until 1928 when two major developments took place simultaneously — the School of Library Training was established in University College Dublin and the Library Association of Ireland was founded. William Martin in his thesis for the Fellowship of the Library Association of Ireland suggests that the impetus for the establishment of the school came from within University College Dublin where it was perceived as a vehicle for enabling graduates to obtain posts in the emerging County Libraries. Others, with perhaps more authority, have held that there were pressures on the College by the fore‐runner of the Library Association of Ireland (Cumann na Leabharlann) to provide an opportunity for Irish people engaged in library work to obtain a qualification in their own country. Whichever the reason, it is clear that there was conflict between the School, which was conceived by the University as offering a postgraduate qualification, and the public library sector which saw only the danger that such a regulation would close all opportunity for qualification, and by implication promotion to the new county libraries, to all but a very few of their staff. In the circumstances University College agreed to admit non‐graduate public library staff having an approved length of experience and having successfully completed a year's study of the Arts course to the Diploma Course. This practice has continued to the present day.