Meath County Council to show off how they dealt with restrictions with July 1 promotion
The innovative work carried out by the staff of Meath County Council during the Covid-19 crisis will be highlighted on #YourCouncilDay, which takes place on Wednesday July 1.
Meath’s swift reaction to the demands of lockdown saw the county’s libraries quickly develop a range of online services and events – with County Librarian Ciaran Mangan highlighting an ironic find during one special event.
Meath County Libraries recorded an 80% annual increase in the number of people accessing online eBooks and audio books during the lockdown.
And to bring online viewers closer to Navan Library, Ciaran hosted a virtual tour of the archives which holds more than 60,000 books.
During it, he drew attention to a notice attached to the inside cover of one the older books, which recalled a pandemic of a different kind almost 100 years ago.
“Books had a warning for borrowers to report to the librarian all cases of infectious diseases occurring in their houses while library books were in their possession,” he said.
“That has echoes of today, of course. It was common from the 1930’s to the 1950’s during the era of TB.”
Librarians also provided entertainment and stimulation for young readers across the county by live-streaming on the Library Service’s Facebook pages.
They read, sang and acted out favourite childhood stories and nursery rhymes, as well as conducting poetry readings, quizzes and competitions.
Meanwhile their colleagues in Meath Civil Defence completed as many tasks from March to May as they would normally do in an entire year.
More than 100 members were involved in transporting patients to and from medical centres, hospitals and appointments, as well as delivering medication, food and other essential supplies to vulnerable people in their homes.
“The reaction from the people we are helping has been very positive. We are delighted to provide an essential service, with a friendly face and a bit of human interaction, which is an important part of what we do,” said Meath Civil Defence Officer Michael Fitzsimons.
#YourCouncilDay will showcase what is happening on the day throughout the council and also highlight the innovation shown by local authorities in supporting the community through the lockdown.
Social media users throughout the community are also asked to post their experiences of council initiatives using the hashtag #YourCouncilDay.
“The current crisis has highlighted the true nature of public service in communities across the country,” said Jackie Maguire, Meath County Council Chief Executive.
“The unique circumstances of Covid-19 prompted councils to innovate in how they provided both dayto-day services and additional supports to the public.
“Faced with the challenge of social distancing, and with many of their own staff working from home, local authorities brought novel solutions to the complex problems posed by the new realities of lockdown.
“Thousands of public servants adopted new skills and devised innovative ways of delivering services to those who needed them most.
“All local authorities established Community Support Programmes to co-ordinate a multi-agency response to deliver services while Covid-19 restrictions are in force.
“Councils moved to support those faced with isolation, activating befriending services with regular phone calls, starting local radio shows and organising book and even musical instrument deliveries to combat loneliness. ‘