With the establishment of the library service, the first library centre was located in the Town Hall, Charlestown . One of the first voluntary librarians was a Mrs. A. Burke, N.T. from Barrack Street who was associated with the library throughout the 1930’s & 1940’s.
In 1931, due to the ‘County Librarian’ controversy, all branch centres all over the county (including Charlestown) closed and sent their books back to Library HQ in Castlebar. By the middle of May, only five of the one hundred and thirty previously active centres, were in operation and the library service was effectively closed for business. It wasn’t until October 1932, when Kathleen Ronaldson was appointed as County Librarian, that normal service resumed and centres, including Charlestown, reopened.
In 1944, a Mrs. O’Donnell from Main Street took charge of the centre, still located in the Town Hall. It only lasted a short period of time because during the Emergency, supplies of new books were very difficult to source. By then, there were also two private lending libraries in the town; B. O’Connor, Barrack Street (Foyle’s) and PJ Honan, Main Street (Torch). Newspaper reports in 1951 pointed out that Charlestown was one of the few towns in Mayo without a library branch or centre.
In 1953, two new centres were established: one opened in the Marist Convent, with a Sr. Mary Philippine and in July 1959 and another was established at St. Attracta’s N.S. with a Sr. Mary Ursula in charge. An application in December 1959 to Mayo County Council for a new branch/centre in the town was refused due to budgetary restraints. In April 1960, a large quantity of books was destroyed in a school fire in the Marist Convent.
The town was left without any facility until November 1963 when a public meeting was held in the town to establish a more substantial Library Branch as compared to a centre, which was usually run by volunteers known as Hon. Librarians (mainly N.S. teachers). A room free of rent, with shelving in the Town Hall was provided by Very Rev. Canon O’Connor, PP, and members of the local I.C.A. (Irish Countrywomen Association) took charge of the library. There were initially seventy adult readers registered and it was open every Saturday from 3-4pm. However, during the year, when books were not returned and the library sometimes did not open, a Branch Librarian was appointed for the first time – Mrs. Rose Brennan (grandmother of staff member Paula Leavy McCarthy).
In 1968, there was a fire in the Town Hall and all 805 books were burnt or damaged, so the library was relocated to a ground floor room in Mrs. Brennan’s house in Church Street. By 1978, the library was open six hours a week, had sixty-two borrowers and a book-stock of 2,000. In 1980 it was decided to close several Branches, including Charlestown due to the expansion of the Mobile Library Service.
In 1989, there were calls by local councillors for Mayo County Council to acquire Charlestown Vocational School for the provision of a new branch, but nothing came of it.
Eventually, a new Branch was established in the Town Hall on Barrack Street and was officially opened on the 23rd of May 2005, by Cllr. Eddie Staunton, Cathaoirleach of Mayo Co Council. The library is approx. 1,000 sq. ft and holds a stock of over 10,000 books. The Librarian in charge on the opening day was Mary Mulhern from Ballina who sadly passed away in 2011. She was succeeded by staff member Aoife Keane, before Nóirín Gannon, a native of Achill, took charge in December 2007.
For twelve years, Nóirín worked at the branch until 2019 when she transferred to Castlebar Library. She now works in the Library at Westport. The library closed during the Covid crisis and will now reopen on Tuesday, the 7th of November 2023. The library has been newly refurbished and will be staffed by Elizabeth Maher who is looking forward to welcoming library members, new and old.
Source: Alan King – Claremorris Library