NIPR celebrates 10th anniversary

Friends of the Northern Ireland Publications Resource (NIPR) gathered in Belfast’s Linen Hall Library last night to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the project which has now built up a collection of some 5,000 books published locally since 2000 and made their catalogue records available via the project website. Previously much of Northern Ireland’s publishing output fell below the radar of the legal deposit system so this voluntary scheme, sponsored by LISC and funded by the Department of Culture Arts and Leisure (DCAL) following initial start-up funding from the British Library, has plugged a significant gap.

NIPR Managers past and present: Deirdre Wildy, Joan Crooks and Moncia McErlane.

NIPR Chair Wesley McCann introduced the event and read a note of greeting from DCAL Minister Nelson McCausland before introducing literary agent Paul Feldstein who gave the keynote address. He congratulated NIPR on the work that it had done to ensure that books published in Northern Ireland are brought to the attention of the wider world and preserved for future generations and also commended the NIPR initiatives to encourage best practice in publishing including its 2008 publication Publishing for Success. The audience also heard from the project’s lead partners, Patricia Walker from Libraries NI and Brian Adgey from the Linen Hall Library.

A newly-produced booklet on the history of the project was distributed at the event.