> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.dublininquirer.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # What's the plan for squeezing more library into Howth, asks a councillor - URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/whats-the-plan-for-squeezing-more-library-into-howth-asks-a-councillor/ - Published: 2026-09-08T23:06:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-09-08T23:06:00.000Z - Description: About €700,000 has been allocated by the council for improvements, but there's no concrete proposal for how to spend it. - Author: Michael Lanigan - Tags: libraries, Culture Desk, Howth, Fingal Howth’s library wasn’t particularly busy on Tuesday morning. One woman had come in to use the computers after the front doors were opened by staff at a quarter to nine. Its two librarians were sitting at the reception desk next to the entrance. One organised a few files. The other leafed through a stack of books. Above the shelves of books, newspapers, CDs, DVDs and board games, there were pictures of local sights, including paintings of the harbour, a sketch of the former Baily Court Hotel. The hotel, which looked out on [Balscadden Bay](https://www.dublininquirer.com/despite-years-of-campaigning-theres-still-no-safe-access-to-howths-balscadden-beach/), once occupied the site next to the library on the peninsula’s sloping Main Street. But today, that hotel is a construction site after developer Balscadden GP3 Limited was [granted permission](https://www.pleanala.ie/en-ie/case/313133?ref=dublininquirer.com) by An Comisiún Pleanála in March 2023 to demolish the building and build 180 apartments. The village’s library is a quaint, single-storey art deco building with white pebbledashed walls and sky blue quoins which sits between this construction site to its north, and a two-storey block of offices to its south. Similar to Dublin city’s art deco-style libraries in Inchicore, Ringsend and Drumcondra, almost the entire facility is contained within a single room. The library isn't capable of meeting Howth’s needs Social Democrats Councillor Joan Hopkins said on Tuesday morning. “If you compare Howth library to Baldoyle library or Malahide library, which is massive, huge. They’ve even got a room where you can learn how to cook, and that should be the benchmark,” she said. According to its [capital programme for ](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28606141-combined-report-outturn-2024-and-3-year-capital-programme-2025-2027/?q=howth+library&mode=document&ref=dublininquirer.com#document/p24)[2025 to 2027](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28606141-combined-report-outturn-2024-and-3-year-capital-programme-2025-2027/?q=howth+library&mode=document&ref=dublininquirer.com#document/p24), published in October 2024, Fingal County Council had allocated €187,000 to carry out a feasibility study on the possibility of expanding the library. The feasibility study has been completed, according to [a report](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28606467-councillor-j-hopkins-details-of-feasibility-study-for-howth-library/?ref=dublininquirer.com) from Lilian Whelan, Fingal’s acting county librarian. But the council hasn't decided on a course of action. There isn’t a timeline or project team associated with works on the library yet, a council spokesperson said on Tuesday afternoon when asked if the feasibility study has been completed. ## **Slow consideration** The Howth Library was built in 1933. It isn't listed by Fingal County Council as [a protected structure](https://www.fingal.ie/sites/default/files/2024-03/record-of-protected-structures-and-acas-2023-2029.pdf?ref=dublininquirer.com), but its unusual architecture and social history makes it a building of special interest, says the [National Built Heritage Service](https://www.buildingsofireland.ie/buildings-search/building/11359020/howth-public-library-main-street-howth-howth-co-dublin?ref=dublininquirer.com). In addition to the money set aside for the feasibility study in its last three-year capital programme, the council has allocated [€687,000](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28606146-capital-programme-2026-2028/?q=howth+library&mode=document&ref=dublininquirer.com#document/p27) in its current one, which stretches out to 2028 for "improvement works" at the library, "subject to funding availability". However, Hopkins says she has yet to see the feasibility study. At a meeting of the council's Howth-Malahide local area committee on 2 September, she asked for a copy of the study, and details of plans to provide an improved library service for Howth. The council has undertaken a feasibility study and several options were explored, including adding an additional floor and expanding to building to take in the entire site, according to a [report](https://meetings.fingal.ie/documents/s119405/Item%2006%20Councillor%20J.%20Hopkins%20-%20Details%20of%20Feasibility%20Study%20for%20Howth%20Library.pdf?ref=dublininquirer.com) from Whelan. But, "The site and its available options present significant challenges with limited additional floor space to the existing building," she said. “In this context, consideration continues to be given to possible options that can lead to the upgrade of library facilities in Howth.” ## **What is feasible?** It should be feasible to add something like a small annex to either side of the building, Hopkins said. “Or even an outdoor garden space. In Baldoyle, they had an outdoor space that was turned into a sensory garden with an awning covering. An additional space for kids to do readings or play,” she said. The library has a small garden on its southern end that is “sizeable” enough, she said. “You could easily put another community room extension there.” While the Howth Library upgrade remains at "an exploratory stage", similar tasks of upgrading of other libraries of similar vintage in Dublin city have proven challenging. The 1935 art deco library in Inchicore was approved by Dublin city councillors for refurbishment in January 2020. But [its temporary closure in March 2020](https://www.dublininquirer.com/path-forward-for-renovating-former-inchicore-library-and-opening-it-up-for-community-use/) became indefinite as the old building began to severely deteriorate once vacant. Over in Ringsend, the long-slated extension and rejuvenation of its own art deco library is inching forward, with a tender for construction set to be complete by November, according to a July [report](https://councilmeetings.dublincity.ie/documents/g5813/Public%20reports%20pack%2013th-Jul-2026%2014.30%20South%20East%20Area%20Committee.pdf?T=10&ref=dublininquirer.com) to Dublin City Council's South East Area Committee. A contractor is due to be appointed during the second quarter of 2027, with the estimated build time expected to be up to two and a half years, the report says. For Howth, the worry is that any upgrades will stall because its limitations are deemed a challenge by the council, said Fianna Fáil Councillor Cathal Haughey on Tuesday evening. “It’s frustrating for the councillors and the residents because there are going to be more who are moving into its new apartments,” Haughey said. “We just want to match that population increase with facilities being increased,” he said.