Given each year by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation’s Global Libraries initiative, the Access to Learning Award recognizes the innovative efforts of public libraries or similar organizations outside the United States to connect people to information through free access to computers and the Internet.
Applications for the 2010 Access to Learning Award must be submitted via an online submission process by October 31 2009.

Safer Internet Day takes place each year in February to promote safer and more responsible use of Internet and mobile phone technologies, especially amongst children and young people. This year the event is being celebrated in over 65 countries on 10th February 2009.
The Office for Internet Safety, which is an Executive Office of the Department of Justice, Equality & Law Reform, has produced an information leaflet on Internet Safety for Parents and a bookmark on Top Tips for safer use of social-networking sites to mark Safer Internet Day 2009. These resources will be available from all public libraries.
These publications and information on internet safety can be found on the Office for Internet Safety website.
It has been decided to hold Internet Safety training sessions for parents in five public libraries across the country. This decision reflects the role of library authorities in the promotion of a socially inclusive Internet access service.
These sessions will be provided by National Centre for Technology in Education tutors in branch libraries of Meath, Kerry, Mayo, Sligo and Wexford Public Library Authorities. Further information is available directly from these authorities or from NCTE

Safer Internet Day 2009 will be celebrated on Tuesday 10th February.
This International annual event, which is organised by European internet safety network (INSAFE) and is co-funded by the European Commissions Safer Internet Programme, takes place every February to promote safe and responsible use of the internet and mobile phone technologies, especially amongst children and young people.
The Office for Internet Safety has produced an information leaflet on Internet safety as well as an Internet Safety bookmark. These were distributed to each Library Authority and will be available in public libraries on Safer Internet Day.
For further information on activities in Ireland for Safer Internet Day 2009, Please see www.webwise.ie.
The Office for Internet Safety also recently published a booklet on cyberbullying which was launched on December 9 2008 by the Minister for Justice, Equality & Law Reform, Mr. Dermot Ahern T.D. You can read more about the launch and download the booklet here.

Ireland has recently become a member country involved in conducting an international European Research project on Cultural, Contextual and Risk Issues in Children’s Safe Use of the Internet and New Media. The EU Kids Online (2006-2009) will examine research carried out in 18 member states into how children and young people use the internet and new media. This three-year collaboration aims to identify comparable research findings across Europe to evaluate the social, cultural and regulatory influences affecting both risks and children’s and parents’ responses to them. It will chart available data, note indicate gaps and identify factors that shape the research capability of European research institutions. Finally, it will examine methodological issues relating to cross-cultural analyses and the study of children’s online experience in order to develop a best practice guide to research. All Irish researchers, policy-makers and practitioners are invited to support this work. If you know of any relevant research or research-related activities that impact on questions of children and young people’s use, risk and safety online, please email P.Tsatsou@lse.ac.uk or further information, contact the website http://www.eukidsonline.net/

On September 20, the Minister of Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Mr Brian Lenihan T.D. launched, on behalf of the Internet Advisory Board,  two booklets in the GET with IT! series:

•  a revised Parents’ Guide to new media technologies, and 
• A Parents’ Guide to filtering technologies.

The internet safety booklets will be available free of charge through libraries, community information centres, on request through a freefone number 1800 24 25 95, and on the websites of the Internet Advisory Board (www.iab.ie) and the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform (www.justice.ie).

The Minister also announced the establishment of the Office for Internet Safety (OIS) Minister Lenihan explained that it will be an executive office of the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform with responsibility for:

• internet safety, particularly in relation to combating child pornography,
• internet Hotline (www.hotline.ie – the system for dealing with reports of illegal content on the internet),
• internet safety awareness campaigns, and
• monitoring compliance with the Internet Service Provider industry code of practice.