Dublin City Public Libraries is the largest library authority in the Republic of Ireland, serving over half a million people[1] through a network of 21 branch libraries, a number of specialist services and Mobile Library stops.[2]
Specialist services include Dublin City Archives, Dublin and Irish Local Studies Collection, Business Information Centre, Music Library, and an Open Learning Centre. With 2.6 million visits,[3] and Wi-Fi Internet access available in all branches, the service aims to promote the concept of "lifelong learning in the community", offering a range of opportunities for all ages and backgrounds to "develop life chances and new learning skills".
The International Dublin Literary Award is administered by Dublin City Public Libraries.[4]
The application for designation as a UNESCO City of Literature, part of the Creative Cities Networkwas initiated and led by Dublin City Public Libraries.
The International Dublin Literary Award (Irish: Duais Liteartha Idirnáisiúnta Bhaile Átha Chliath) is an international literary award presented each year for a novel written in English or translated into English. It aims to promote excellence in world literature and is solely sponsored by Dublin City Council, Ireland. At €100,000, the award is one of the richest literary prizes in the world. If the winning book is a translation (as it has been nine times), the prize is divided between the writer and the translator, with the writer receiving €75,000 and the translator €25,000.[1]The first award was made in 1996 to David Malouf for his English language novel Remembering Babylon.[2]
Nominations are submitted by public librariesworldwide – over 400 library systems in 177 countries worldwide are invited to nominate books each year – from which the shortlist and the eventual winner are selected by an international panel of judges (which changes each year). The most recent winner is Mike McCormack who won for his novel Solar Bones.
The award was established in 1994 as the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award, a joint initiative of Dublin City Council and the American productivity company IMPAC, which had its European headquarters in Dublin.[8] James Irwin, president of IMPAC, established the prize money at €100,000. A trust fund was established to pay for the award and its maintenance. The award has been administered by Dublin City Public Libraries since its inception. IMPAC went defunct in the late-2000s when its founder and president James Irwin died in 2009.[8] In late 2013, the trust fund became exhausted and there was no money left to run the award.[8] The council agreed to step in and continue funding the award under the same brand name of the now-defunct company while seeking a new sponsor.[8] It was reported that the council paid €100,000 for the prize plus €80,250 in administration costs in 2015.[8] The award was subsequently renamed the International DUBLIN Literary Award in November 2015.
Describing the award as "the most eclectic and unpredictable of the literary world's annual gongs", the journalist Michelle Pauli posed the question in relation to the longlist for the 2004 edition, "Where would you find Michael Dobbs and Tony Parsons up against Umberto Eco and Milan Kundera for a €100,000 prize?"[9] As of 2018, the most recent winner is Mike McCormack who won for his novel Solar Bones