How to Get a Self-Published Picture Book Into Libraries in Ireland

Ireland has a strong library culture and busy children's sections. Public libraries run regular storytimes, class visits and seasonal programmes, and many actively welcome local authors. For a self-published picture book author, a library placement is also a quiet mark of credibility that helps when you approach schools and bookshops.

Irish libraries do buy self-published picture books, but they buy them through a process. Understanding that process, and making your book easy to say yes to, is most of the work. Here's how to do it, step by step.

How Irish public libraries choose picture books

Public libraries in Ireland are run by local authority library services, so each county or city council has its own team and its own budget. Most stock arrives through library suppliers rather than directly from authors. Whoever does the selecting, usually a senior librarian or a children's or collection development librarian, is weighing the same questions:

• Will local families borrow it? A clear hook and age range help them see where it fits on the shelf.
• Is it professionally produced? Cover, binding, editing and illustration quality all count.
• Can we order it easily? An ISBN, a price in euro, clear metadata and availability through the trade make a huge difference.
• Is there local relevance? A local author, an Irish setting, or Irish-language or bilingual content are real reasons to buy.

Step 1: Get the basics right before you pitch

• An ISBN in your own name or imprint. Irish publishers, including self-publishers, get ISBNs from the Nielsen ISBN Agency, which serves both the UK and Ireland. Use a separate ISBN for each format.
• Legal deposit. Under Irish copyright law, publishers must send copies of new books to the National Library of Ireland and to the library of Trinity College Dublin, and some other libraries can request a copy. Check the National Library's current legal deposit guidance for the details. It puts your book on the national record, which helps when a librarian searches for it.
• Trade availability. Ask your printer or distributor whether libraries and their suppliers can order your title through normal channels, and at what discount. Use the numbers to check you still make a profit.
• A library-friendly format. Hardbacks survive heavy borrowing. A sturdy paperback is fine, but say which it is up front.

Step 2: Register for Public Lending Remuneration

Ireland has a Public Lending Remuneration (PLR) scheme that makes annual payments to eligible authors and illustrators based on loans of their books from Irish public libraries. Check the current eligibility rules and how to register on the official scheme page, then register each title once it's in libraries. It's a small but recurring return on every placement.

Step 3: Find the right person

Start with your own local authority library service. Look on its website for a staff contact, a "suggest a book" option or a local studies or local authors page, or ask at your nearest branch for the children's librarian. They can pass your details to whoever selects stock and, crucially, they run storytime.

Then widen out to neighbouring counties, and to libraries in places your story is set. A local author with a genuine connection is far easier to say yes to than a cold pitch from the other side of the country.

Step 4: Send a one-page sheet, not the whole book

Librarians want the facts quickly. The book trade uses an Advance Information (AI) sheet for this: one page with the cover, title, author and illustrator, ISBN, format, page count, trim size, price in euro, publication date, age range, a short description and how to order. Add a line on local relevance.

Keep the covering email short:

Dear [Name],

I'm a picture book author living in [town], and I'd love [Library service] to consider [Title] for the children's collection. It's a [one-line hook] for ages [3–6], available in [hardback/paperback] through [distributor/supplier].

I've attached a one-page information sheet with the ISBN, price and ordering details. I'd also be happy to offer a free storytime or class-visit session at any branch.

Kind regards,
[Name]

Step 5: Offer a session that fits their calendar

Libraries plan their programmes well ahead. October's Children's Book Festival in Irish libraries, World Book Day in March and the school holidays are natural moments to offer a reading with a simple drawing or craft activity. Pitch a few months early, keep your session plan to one page, and ask whether families can order signed copies on the day. If you're planning school visits around World Book Day too, our World Book Day author visit ideas work just as well in Irish primary schools.

Step 6: Follow up once, then track it

If you hear nothing after two or three weeks, send one polite follow-up with the sheet attached again. Then let it rest and try again later with news: a review, an event at another library, a shortlisting. Log every library service you contact with the date and outcome, and search the catalogue a couple of months on. If your book appears, thank the librarian and offer that storytime again.

Pitching libraries further afield as well? See our guides for Australia and bookshops and libraries in the UK.

Do it faster with templates

The Picture Book Launch Kit gives you the documents above ready to fill in, so you spend your time contacting libraries instead of drafting:

• The Advance Information Sheet, laid out the way librarians and bookshop buyers expect.
• The Metadata Checklist, so your ISBN record and descriptions are consistent everywhere.
• The Bookshop Pitch, which adapts easily into a short library email.
• The Event Checklist and School Visit Pitch & Menu for storytimes and class visits.
• The Outreach Tracker and Pricing & Profit Calculator, to log every contact and check your trade discount still leaves you a profit.

It's a 47-page instant PDF with 10 chapters and 18 templates (UK & US edition), and the library, school and bookshop routes apply just as well in Ireland. See what's inside the Launch Kit.

Just getting started? Download the free Picture Book Launch Checklist for a one-page plan of the months around publication.