Despite several high-profile purchases of famous Irish writers' work, the number of visitors to the National Library was down on previous years in 2002.
The attendance book in the main reading room was signed by 33,105 people last year, about 2,500 fewer than in 2001.
The Trustees' Report 2002, published last week, blames the drop in visitors on the decline in use of the library's genealogy service. This was attributed to the decrease in visitors from the US, and the availability of genealogy information online.
Materials valued at around €16 million were added to the library's collections during 2002.
Purchases included a previously unknown collection of James Joyce manuscripts, described by Dr Stephen Roe, head of the European book division at Sotheby's, as "the most important discovery of literary manuscripts by a 20th century author ever made".
The personal library of W.B.Yeats, which makes the National Library the world's foremost repository of Yeats papers and memorabilia, was another high-profile acquisition. The National Library is hoping to establish a separate Yeats room within the main building to house this collection.
Other papers added to the library's assets included the personal library of Seán O'Casey, one of Ireland's most significant playwrights, and political papers dealing with Michael Collins's role in Partition.