Most popular titles of 2009 in Galway Public Libraries

For the third year in a row, "A thousand splendid suns" is Galway Libraries most lent title. According to our lending records the most popular book issues in Galway Public Libraries for 2009

were as follows: See most popular for 2008 here and 2007.

The images to the left are of Clifden Library's Festive Windows

Hosseini, Khaled - A thousand splendid suns

Gilbert, Elizabeth - Eat, pray, love : bone woman's search for everything across Italy, India and Indonesia

Edwards, Kim - The memory keeper's daughter

Binchy, Maeve - Heart and soul

Cornwell, Patricia - Scarpetta

Ahern, Cecelia - The gift

Mayes, Frances - Under the Tuscan sun

Picoult, Jodi - My sister's keeper

McEwan, Ian - On Chesil Beach

Roberts, Nora - Tribute

Scanlan, Patricia - Happy ever after

Patterson, James - Sail

Patterson, James - Cross Country

Connelly, Michael - The brass verdict

La Plante, Lynda - Deadly intent

O'Flanagan, Sheila - Someone special

Scanlan, Patricia - Forgive and forget

Hazzard, Shirley - The transit of Venus

Ahern, Cecelia - Thanks for the memories

Picoult, Jodi - Salem Falls

Last Over The Edge Open Reading for 2009

The final Over The Edge Open Reading of 2009 takes place in Galway City Library, St. Augustine Street, Galway on Thursday, December 17th, 6.30-8pm. The Featured Readers are Gerry Galvin, Liam Duffy & Geraldine Mills.

There will be an open-mic when the Featured Readers have finished. This is open to anyone who has a poem or story to share. New readers are always especially welcome. The MC for the evening will be Susan Millar DuMars. For further details phone 087-6431748.

Costa Book Awards 2009

The Costa Book Awards recognise the most enjoyable books - published in the last year by writers in five categories - First Novel, Novel, Biography, Poetry and Children's Book based in the UK and Ireland. This year's Costa Book Awards attracted 592 entries - the second highest-ever number of submissions in one year.

2 02009 Costa Novel Award short list
Penelope Lively for Family Album (Fig Tree)
Hilary Mantel for Wolf Hall (Fourth Estate)
Christopher Nicholson for The Elephant Keeper (Fourth Estate)
Colm Toib?n for Brooklyn (Viking)

2009 Costa First Novel Award shortlist
Rachel Heath for The Finest Type of English Womanhood (Hutchinson)
Peter Murphy for John the Revelator (Faber and Faber)
Raphael Selbourne for Beauty (Tindal Street Press)
Ali Shaw for The Girl with Glass Feet (Atlantic Books)

2009 Costa Biography Award shortlist
Graham Farmelo for The Strangest Man - The Hidden Life of Paul Dirac, Quantum Genius (Faber and Faber)
William Fiennes for The Music Room (Picador)
Simon Gray for Coda (Co-published by Granta Books and Faber and Faber)
Caroline Moorehead for Dancing to the Precipice (Chatto & Windus)

2009 Costa Poetry Award shortlist
Clive James for Angels Over Elsinore (Picador Poetry)
Katharine Kilalea for One Eyed Leigh (Carcanet)
Ruth Padel for Darwin: A Life in Poems (Chatto & Windus)
Christopher Reid for A Scattering (Arete Books)

2009 Costa Childrens Book Award shortlist
Siobhan Dowd for Solace of the Road (David Fickling Books)
Mary Hoffman for Troubadour (Bloomsbury)
Patrick Ness for The Ask and the Answer (Chaos Walking: Book Two) (Walker Books)
Anna Perera for Guantanamo Boy (Puffin)

Lunchtime Music @ the City Library

Enjoy the sounds of Christmas when ConTempoand the Sunus chamber choir, under the direction of Audrey Corbett, perform a special lunchtime holiday concert at the Galway City Library, St. Augustine Street on Tuesday 8th of December.

The performance begins at 1.00pm and is open to the public, free of charge. The programmes will include Corelli's Christmas Oratorio, Bach's Air, Haydn's Serenade and Minuet, Mozart's Allegro from Eine Kleine Nachtmusik and Presto from the Divertimento in D, Dvorak's Andante from the 'American' Quartet, Romanian Folk Dances, Byzantine Christmas Songs and a Christmas Carol medley. All are welcome

The ConTempo Quartet are Galway County Council's musicians in residence, at the heart of a project to develop music in Galway. Throughout the past year they have presented workshops for school children, performed in Libraries throughout the county, worked with local artists and choirs, hosted chamber music workshops and a summer school for young musicians.

Activities in Gort Library

IMPAC Literary Award Longlist

The International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award is the largest and most international prize of its kind. It involves libraries from all corners of the globe, and is open to books written in any language.
Novels by two Irish writers; The Secret Scripture by Sebastian Barry, winner of the 2009 Costa Prize and Netherland by Joseph O’Neill, longlisted for the 2009 Man Booker prize have been nominated for the prestigious 2010 International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award. The nominations come from 163 libraries in 123 cities and 43 countries worldwide. See the 2010 longlist here.

The Award is open to works of fiction written in, or translated into, English and published within a specified period of time.The nomination process for the Award is unique as nominations are made by selected libraries in capital and major cities throughout the world.

Participating libraries can nominate up to three books each year for the Award: the books must meet the criteria for eligibility which are distributed to libraries each year.

Science Week event in Tuam Library

NUIG held a workshop in Tuam Library on Tuesday 17^th November as part of Science Week.

Students from Transition year in the Presentation College attended the workshop and debated the issue of adult stem cell research. This workshop was in preparation for Debating Science Issues, a debating competition which invites students to engage in debate on biomedical science.