The Library and No 5 have completed the project Think Globally, Act Locally, to raise awareness of the climate emergency and to increase sustainability.
We replaced the traditional lighting in the Library with LED lights, and we developed the garden of No 5.
Also in the photograph are members of Dementia NI’s Armagh Empowerment Group, including local Volunteer, Mrs Barbara Campbell, along with recently retired Registry Officer, Dr Stephen Day, young Library volunteer, Emma, and Assistant Keeper, Ms Carol Conlin.
Garden project No 5
For the garden project, we consulted the Library’s eighteenth-century book collection on gardens and plants. We wanted to make sure that the new plants would be beneficial to wildlife, while also including scented plants for our human visitors to enjoy!
Flowerbeds were created, using recycled field stones as edging, and a wooden fence installed. Behind the fence we planted a wildflower garden.
The project was made possible thanks to a grant from the Northern Ireland Museums Council through the Museums Challenge Climate Change Grant programme, funded by the Department for Communities Climate Change Fund and National Lottery Heritage Fund.
We want to thank our funders and all the contractors who have worked with us on this project!
Members of Dementia NI’s Armagh Empowerment Support Group, as well as the new Director of the Northern Ireland Museums Council, Johnathan Dalzell were present for the project launch.
The Library’s Assistant Keeper, Carol Conlin, said,
We wish to thank our funder and all the contractors who have worked with us on this project. We in Armagh Robinson Library and No 5 Vicars’ Hill are keen to protect the planet in effective if modest ways. Shrubs and plants were chosen with care, blending eighteenth century planting with twenty-first century environmental knowledge.
We hope that our visitors will enjoy the garden as part of their visit to No 5 and will see that we are using natural resources with respect.
The project was launched with the help of members of Dementia NI’s Armagh Empowerment Support Group. Also present was the new Director of the Northern Ireland Museums Council, Dr Johnathan Dalzell. Speaking ahead of the launch, Johnathan said,
NIMC is delighted to support the ‘Think Globally, Act Locally’ project at Armagh Robinson Library and No 5 Vicars’ Hill. It is fantastic to see the wealth of knowledge in the Library’s botanical book collection reflected in the new flowerbeds, which have already begun to attract bees and birds.
The focus on sustainable construction practices, and internal fitting of energy efficient lighting also point to practical interventions that support climate mitigation efforts, underpinning community engagement and education programmes.
Over the summer months visits to No 5 and the garden need to be pre-booked by emailing the Library office.
