Weekly Story Time at Birr Library

What to Expect

Birr Library holds a Story Time every Saturday morning at 10.30am, and it runs as a straightforward drop-in rather than a booked class. Library staff choose the books and read them aloud, and the selection changes week to week, with particular themes picked out on some Saturdays rather than working through a fixed list. The next session falls on Saturday 15 August 2026.

Because it is weekly and free, it works as a standing Saturday morning fixture for families in Birr and the surrounding parishes rather than something to plan around. Children sit in the children’s area of the library while the reading is on, and parents and minders stay with them. No booking is necessary and there is no charge, so a family can simply arrive shortly before half ten. Birr Library also runs story and rhyme times for babies and toddlers during the week alongside this Saturday session, and it hosts children’s book clubs and other activities across the year as part of the wider Offaly Libraries programme, so it is worth asking at the desk what else is on while you are there. The branch is on Wilmer Road and holds a full lending collection for children as well as adults, so the session pairs naturally with borrowing a few books on the way out.

Good to Know

• Every Saturday at 10.30am; next session Saturday 15 August 2026
• Venue: Birr Library, Wilmer Road, Birr, Co. Offaly
• Free, and no booking is necessary
• Stories are chosen and read by library staff, with themed weeks
• Story and rhyme times for babies and toddlers also run at Birr during the week
• Contact Birr Library on 057 912 4950 or birrlibrary@offalycoco.ie
• Part of the Offaly Libraries children’s programme

Getting There

Birr Library is on Wilmer Road, a few minutes’ walk from Emmet Square and the Birr Castle entrance, at the northern end of the town centre. Birr is on the N52 from Tullamore and the N62 from Roscrea, and is signposted off the M7 at Roscrea and the M6 at Athlone via the N62. There is on-street parking on Wilmer Road and larger public car parks off Emmet Square and Castle Street, both a short walk away. Bus Eireann services stop in the centre of Birr, within walking distance of the library.