Cork County Library is delighted to announce that its free instrument loan scheme ‘A Sound Initiative’ has been expanded greatly with thanks to the Creative Ireland Programme and the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht. This scheme was originally launched in 2017 following the first Creative Ireland conference and the collection comprised of 30 instruments mostly donated by the public. The idea behind the scheme was to allow anyone to borrow an instrument free of charge and try it out before making a potentially expensive purchase. The scheme has proven very popular with waiting lists for many of the instruments and over 300 loans to date. A Sound Initiative was a prize winner at this year’s joint CILIP/Library Association of Ireland with the theme of inclusion and has been nominated for an award at the upcoming Excellence in Local Government awards. With thanks to Creative Ireland the collection is now at over 140 instruments from banjos to violins and will facilitate expansion of the scheme including block loans to schools and workshops in libraries going forward. The possibilities are endless. Full information is available online at www.corkcoco.ie/library-services and the Cork County Library Musical Instrument policy is available to see by clicking on the following link: https://www.corkcoco.ie/library-services/frequently-asked-questions.

Please note that the details of events listed above are provided by the relevant Local Authorities.