Clare authors whose books are loaned by public libraries are set to benefit from a soon to be introduced remuneration scheme.Minister of State Tony Killeen T.D. has confirmed that the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government has signed Regulations which provide for a Public Lending Remuneration (PLR) scheme in respect of the public library service. The Scheme, which will be administered by An Chomhairle Leabharlanna (The Library Council) with the co-operation of the local authority library service, will provide that qualifying authors, whose books are loaned by public libraries, will receive remuneration in respect of such loan.
According to Minister Killeen, who is a former Minister of State with responsibility for the Library Service, “An undertaking was given to the European Commission that a PLR scheme would be established in 2008 with a view to commencing payments to authors and others from 2009. The Scheme to be introduced will be based on the UK Model and will involve a system of individual payments to authors based on actual loans.”
He added, “The scheme will be administered by An Chomhairle Leabharlanna (The Library Council) and will apply to books initially. The rate of payment will depend on the contribution of individuals including sole authors, joint authors, editors and translators. Authors will be required to register for which payment is being claimed.”
An Chomhairle Leabharlanna will shortly announce details of the scheme and arrangements for its operation.
