A good start

Today, the Irish Times asks 8 writers about their favourite opening lines from a novel. Contributers include Aravind Adiga (writer of the Booker-Prize-winning White Tiger) who says

My favourite opening line is from Albert Camus’s The Stranger : “Mother died today. Or maybe yesterday, I don’t know.”. It’s punchy, colloquial, and disturbing. It also taps out a rhythm for the rest of the book.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/features/2010/0428/1224269210849.html

Twit twhoo

Have you ever written something worthy of being held at the Library of Congress? If you have been engaging with social media then maybe you have...

The Library of Congress is now housing an archive of Twitter posts – infact, it includes every tweet ever published since Twitter began in 2006. Read more on the LoC blog: http://blogs.loc.gov/loc/2010/04/how-tweet-it-is-library-acquires-entire-twitter-archive/

Mature students making headlines

Today's Irish Independent features the growing trend of mature students returning to college.

Meet the mature students blazing a trail through the recession. . .
'Family support is crucial in being a student'

Life in the EU

For the month of April, Blanchardstown Public Library has a display at its Europe Direct centre. It is your guide to: 'On the move - living, learning and working anywhere in the EU'.

The Europe Direct Centre at Blanchardstown Library is a local link to Europe for the citizens of Fingal. The general public, the business community, educators and students access information free of charge on a broad range of topics including travel, finance, the environment, residency, the arts, economic matters and education using a dedicated PC, a free telephone service, leaflets, booklets and magazines.

For further information click here.

One person per PC

Welcome back after the Easter break! As exam time approaches, the need for a quiet study space on campus has grown. The library should be that quiet space.

In recognition that many ITB students need to work in groups, the group study space in A Block has been expanded to allow more students to study there. 8 of the library PCs have been relocated there in addition to the existing PCs. The remaining 32 library PCs will be available for individual study only.

And remember, you will be guaranteed a full hour on a library PC if you book it in advance!

One City One Book

2010 is the fifth year of the Dublin: One City, One Book project, designed to encourage everyone in the city to read the same book during the month of April each year. The project promotes reading in a city which boasts one of the world’s greatest literary heritages including four Nobel Laureates and is a major element of Dublin's submission to become a UNESCO City of Literature.

This April, Dublin is reading:
The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

Dorian Gray is young, rich and beautiful. When he sees an exquisite portrait of himself, he is bewitched and offers his soul in exchange for eternal youth and good looks.

Under the corrupting influence of his friend Lord Henry Wotton, Dorian becomes drawn into a double life, indulging his every desire in a secret life of pleasure and excess, while remaining a gentleman in the eyes of polite society. Only his portrait bears the traces of his decadence.

And as Dorian's behaviour sinks further into debauchery and cruelty, the bargain he has struck looks set to destroy him …

The library has 2 copies for you to read: here and here