Ireland Reads is a campaign to get the whole country reading during February in the lead up to a national day of reading on Saturday, February 22nd.

Managed by Libraries Ireland and funded by the Department of Health through Healthy Ireland, the campaign aims to celebrate reading and all the benefits it can have for wellbeing and enjoyment. It presents opportunity to focus on the value of reading, its benefits and to have a conversation at national and local level regarding its important role in our lives and across Irish society.

This year we are asking everyone to ‘Get lost in a good book’ during February and especially on February 22nd, Ireland Reads Day. Libraries in our cities, towns and villages across the country will be hosting events to mark the campaign.

Meath Libraries:

Libraries throughout Meath are taking part in Ireland Reads, a campaign to get the whole country reading this month in the lead up to a national day of reading on Saturday, February 22nd.

Throughout February and especially on Ireland Reads Day, February 22nd, we’re calling on people across Ireland to ‘Get Lost in a Good Book’. It doesn’t matter what you read, where you read or how well you read, as long as you read.

Because taking time to relax and do things you enjoy is important and reading is good for you. It relaxes your body by lowering your heart rate and easing the tension in your muscles. Studies have even shown that reading boosts your mental health by reducing stress by up to 68%.​

Ireland Reads is an initiative of the Government of Ireland to celebrate the joy of reading. It is funded by Healthy Ireland and supported by public libraries and many organisations that promote reading, literacy and the arts.

All you have do is sit down for a read, for as long or as short a time as you can, and lose yourself in an adventure, a thriller, a romance, a comedy or all of the above. So go on, get lost.

Take part in an Ireland Reads event

We have a great programme of events organised to celebrate Ireland Reads Day in our libraries. In the lead up to Saturday, 22nd February we will host special Storytime and Craft sessions in Navan and Nobber libraries. Kells Library will celebrate Ireland Reads with a special screening of ‘The BFG’ on February 20th and hourly storytime sessions featuring Little Irish Folklore Friends and crafts on February 22nd. Each library in Meath will also have a Story and Craft table with selected picture books and activity sheets for younger readers to enjoy. 

For our spotlight event we are thrilled to welcome author Donal Ryan to Trim Library.  He will be interviewed by author Nicola Cassidy. Book your place now to avoid disappointment – tickets are going fast! Details on this page.

We will also host a number of special events for schools, with readings by Tatyana Feeney in Oldcastle and Trim libraries.  And we’ll be launching our new Scéal Trails in Ráth Chairn and Navan with a visit by Tatyana Feeney to Ráth Chairn ICL and by Sadhbh Devlin and Brian Fitzgerald to several junior infant classes in Navan.

We also have a Book Face competition. We want you to take a photo that seamlessly blends your face or body with the book cover. See details on this page.

Looking for a book recommendations?

The Ireland Reads website offers book recommendations suited to a person’s interests and the time they have available. There are more than 2400 recommendations from librarians all around the country, including Meath.

And we’ll have lots of recommended reads on display in our branches in the run up to February 24th. And if that’s not enough we also have some resources on our own website that will help you find something to read as well. Check out our Book News section for more reviews and recommendations, news of Book Awards, newly published titles to watch out for and more. And keep on eye on our Social Media pages for more reading recommendations and news of the Ireland Reads campaign.

More details here: https://www.meath.ie/council/council-services/libraries/ireland-reads-2025