Library Ireland Week 11th-15th November
Library
Ireland Week is running all this week from the 11th until the 15th
of November. The aim of National Library Week is to raise the profile of
libraries and information service professionals and to give library and
information services the opportunity to showcase their resources. It really is
a fantastic opportunity for libraries around the country and there are some
great events
going on nationwide.
Here at RCPI Heritage Centre we have focused a bit on some
of our librarians in the past few weeks but this week is all about our very
beautiful Dun’s Library.
As mentioned in previous blogs, Dun’s Library was
established in 1713 as the result of a bequest made by Sir Patrick Dun. The
library celebrates it tercentenary, 300 years, this year.
Unfortunately, there is only one book in the library which can
be identified as belonging to Patrick Dun, as during its 300 years of existence
the library travelled to numerous locations including the residence of many
college presidents before temporarily resting in Sir Patrick Dun’s Hospital and
finally finding a permanent in home in No. 6 Kildare Street, where it remains
to this day. Books within the library date back many centuries, some into the
1500s; however, the majority of books in the collection are from the 19th
century.
Our books are mostly concerned with medicine, including the
history of medicine but a number of other subjects are also represented. There
are books dealing with zoology, botany, art, geography and travel to name a few.
While texts are predominantly in English,
there are also a large number of texts in Latin, French, German, Italian and
even a very rare collection in Chinese. Some of our books also include
beautifully illustrated plates, maps, or other interesting or informative
illustrations.
An extensive project is currently underway on an up to date catalogue
of records which includes shelving locations to make our items easier to
locate. Our catalogues are open for the
public to search through if you would like to get a better idea of our
holdings.
The Heritage Centre are always happy to assist researchers
to help with queries so please feel free to contact us to
book an appointment or submit your query. All the details are available on our
webpage here.
We believe that there is still a great deal of value within
the pages of our texts and would be delighted to discuss research in the
history of medicine or medical humanities, or indeed any other areas of
interest we might be able to provide information on.
The theme of this year’s Library Ireland Week is ‘thinking outside the book,’ which is
about libraries embracing technology. The Heritage Centre’s Twitter account (@RCPIArchive) and
this blog allow us to think outside the book and we hope you enjoy the articles
and pictures posted in order to try to share our beautiful library with you.