Music to our ears...

It's a beautiful Friday morning here in ITB and the weekend is on its way.  Like music to our ears...  If you have a few minutes to kill, this fantastic TED-Ed video is worth a look.  The Art of the Metaphor:

Borrowing library books is child's play!

Have you borrowed a library book yet?  If not, here is some useful information!

What do you need?
You just need your student card.  Your student card is also your library card, and you are automatically a member of ITB Library when you start college.  Just come to the library desk with your student card and the book you wish to borrow.

How many books can you borrow at a time?
Students can borrow up to 8 books, or items, at a time.  As well as books, you can borrow films on DVD, laptops, calculators, headphones etc.

How long can you borrow items for?
Most text books can be borrowed for 2 weeks at a time; these are long loans.  
In order to make the library books accessible to as many students as possible, some loan periods are shorter.  At the start of each term we ask your lecturers to recommend core texts for short loan.  The first copy of each recommended title is library use only; these books cannot be borrowed but they are always available in the library.  All other copies of the title are short loans; they can be borrowed for 1 week at a time.

What if you want a book for a little longer?
When a book is returned late, or after the due date, there are overdue fines.  Avoid this by renewing your books on or before the day that they are due to be returned.  We will renew your books up to 5 times so long as no other student has reserved them and they are not late.  Laptops and other equipment cannot be renewed.

Still have questions?  Email us at libraryinfo@itb.ie 

Banned Books Week 23 - 29 September 2018

Banned Books Week was first initiated by the American Library Association in 1982 in response to an increasing number of challenges in the US to books in schools, bookstores and libraries.  In the United States books are regularly banned and challenged within school districts. Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling is regularly challenged and banned, with reasons cited including anti-family, occult/Satanism, religious viewpoint and violence. The Harry Potter series was also banned in St. Mary's Island Church of England school in Chatham, Kent. 

In the United States banning is usually limited to libraries and schools, Irish censorship laws prevent the import, sale or distribution of prohibited publications. The Censorship of Publications Act, 1929, was enacted to prohibit the sale and distribution of “unwholesome literature”. Violations to the terms of this act could result in a fine of £50 or a prison sentence of up to 6 months.

Source: American Library Association

In 1946 the Minister for Justice introduced an appeals board, this allowed for some banned books to become available. As a result over 130 books were appealed however this was a largely symbolic victory as most of the books were out of print when the ban was lifted. Despite the introduction of the appeals process the 1950s saw a resurgence of books being banned, with a staggering 1,034 books banned in 1954 alone.

Some of the books that were banned in Ireland include:

I am alone by Walter Macken 

Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck

Borstal Boy by Brendan Behan

Most of these books were banned as soon as they were published. The Censorship Board was not required to explain why a book had been banned. However most were probably banned due to one or a combination of the following reasons; critique of Irish republicanism, critique of the Catholic Church, offensive language, or depiction of sexuality. 

Luckily these books are no longer banned in Ireland and are available in your library! Check out a banned book today ...

Bibliography and further reading:

American Library Association Banned Books page http://www.ala.org/advocacy/bbooks

Censorhip, Notre Dame University Available at: https://sites.nd.edu/irish-hesburgh/censorship/

Censorship of Publications Act, 1929 http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/1929/act/21/enacted/en/html?q=censorship

Censorship of Publications Act, 1946 http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/1946/act/1/enacted/en/html?q=censorship

Diaz, Eleanor and James LaRue 2017, "50 Years of Intellectual Freedom
The ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom celebrates its history" available at https://americanlibrariesmagazine.org/2017/11/01/50-years-office-intellectual-freedom/

Donal Ó, D 2005, ''The best banned in the land': Censorship and Irish Writing since 1950', The Yearbook Of English Studies, p. 146, JSTOR Journals, EBSCOhost, viewed 13 September 2018. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=ip,sso&db=edsjsr&AN=edsjsr.3509330&site=eds-live&custid=ns122646

Ross, Samuel, Harry Potter Banned? Why do some parents want to ban the world's favorite wizard?available at: https://www.infoplease.com/harry-potter-banned

Opening hours in September

Welcome back to all our returning students.  It has been very quiet without you!

This week, the library and student information desk (SID) will open from 9.15am - 5.00pm each weekday.
The library's late opening resumes from Monday 24th September.

IT induction labs for first years

Congrats to all the first years who attended IT induction sessions today.  This is a quick reminder of some the online resources you need to know how to acces:

Register for password recovery: it is important to register for password recovery while your password is active, i.e. now! 

• Register here: http://www.itb.ie/CurrentStudents/passwordrecovery.html 
• Your student number is your user name, e.g. B01000000
• Your user name is entered in this format: campus\B01000000
• Your password is the network password you set the first time you logged in

Student email: your lecturers, administrators and peers will use this email account to contact you.  Check it regularly!

• Login here: https://www.outlook.com/student.itb.ie
• Your student email address is your user name, eg. B01000000@student.itb.ie
• Your password is the network password you set the first time you logged in

Timetable: your timetable may change in the first few weeks of term.  Login to check for changes regularly.

• Login here: http://www.itb.ie/CurrentStudents/timetable.html 
• Scroll to the bottom of the page and click on Logon
• Your student number is your user name, e.g. B01000000
• Leave the password blank and click Login

ITB Student Hub

Are you starting college this week?  Did you know that your library contains a hub of information and services centred on student needs?  The library desk, the student information desk (SID) and the computer services helpdesk are all located in the library building.

In addition, you have 24/7 access to the ITB Student Hub: a website dedicated to sharing all sorts of information that is relevant to you! 

from passwords to parking to printing ...

from email to exemptions to electives ...

from letters to lockers to library databases ...

If you have any suggestions for content, let us know!  LibraryInfo@itb.ie 

Library tours

We have lots of library tours today!  Welcome to first year students in Community and Youth Development, Early Childcare Care and Education  and Applied Social Studies.  We are enjoying showing you around the library as part of your Induction...

Did you know that your student card is also your library card?  Don't forget to carry it with you at all times.

Welcome!

A big welcome back to all our new and returning students.  We hope you had a great summer!  We look forward to meeting all incoming first years during library tours this week, especially the International students who start today.

Fáilte, Valkommen, Vitejte....  Let us know how to say "Welcome" to you...