In a wonderful sign that researchers' lives are getting back to normal, the National Library of Ireland yesterday announced that all of its Reading Rooms are returning to pre-Covid capacity, and Registered Readers will no longer need to make appointments for the Reading Rooms or the Family History Service in the main Kildare Street premises.
Opening hours, however, have not returned to the 'old normal'. There is no Saturday opening and no mid-week late night to facilitate those researchers who cannot get to the Library between 9:30am and 5pm, Monday to Friday. Cafe Joly also remains closed, sadly.
While material must be ordered in advance using the Online Order form, there will be two deliveries each day to the Reading Rooms, and it will be possible to place an order for materials from more than one Reading Room per day. You'll find information about ordering here.
The Reading Room of the National Photographic Archive has reopened, but visits are by appointment only. To book, email npaoffice@nli.ie.
The 'Ireland On the Box: 60 years of television in Ireland' Exhiubition is open at Meeting House Square from Monday to Saturday 10am–4pm, and Sunday 12pm–4pm, and the Seamus Heaney exhibition at the Bank of Ireland Cultural Centre is open Tuesday to Saturday, 10am–4pm.