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 What is your name?
My name is Josephine O’Connor
Where are you from?
I am from County Roscommon. I have lived in Dublin for over five years.
Where do you work?
I work in The Law Library which is located in the Four Courts, Dublin as well as a number of other premises in the vicinity of The Four Courts and Cork. There are plans to extend this when The Criminal Courts Complex opens early in 2010. This will be located near the Phoenix Park. The Library is a private, specialised library and supports the information needs of practising barristers in the Republic of Ireland. It is a very busy environment catering for over 2000 court going barristers and is a unique environment in which to work.
How many people do you work with?
I work with approximately 30 people in library services, and over 60 in the whole organisation. In addition I have constant contact with the barristers who are members of The Law Library.
What do you spend most of your time doing?
My time is divided evenly between reference enquiry work on information desks, and behind the scenes work of overdues and interlibrary-loans.
Did you always want to be a Librarian, if not what did you do before you became one?
I did not leave University wanting to be a Librarian. My interests were always in the arts subjects of History and English. I qualified as a secondary school teacher, and moved from there, to working in a software company for a while. During both of these jobs, I accumulated lots of relevant skills, which I was later able to bring to bear on my career as a Library and Information professional.
My first experience of the library world was working in Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown public libraries. I really enjoyed liaising with the public, and the variety of work. This motivated me, in 2004, to do my diploma in Library & Information Studies, in UCD. While doing this, I got my first taste of working in the academic library environment, in IT-Tallaght.
Subsequent to this, I moved on to the Law Library, I have worked here for just under three years. The Law Library is a busy environment, with members who have an urgent demand for information and I love working in this challenging environment.
What do you enjoy most about your job?
I enjoy most aspects of my job, but most especially assisting the barristers with their information needs. I enjoy pursuing a difficult query, until I find the answer, in the knowledge that this is very relevant to the barristers work.
What do you enjoy least about your work?
As I work on over-dues, I never relish sending out fine notices and fining people.
What do you do to unwind after a hard day at the office?
In my free time, I meet family and friends and sometimes go to the cinema.
Are you a typical librarian? Or does this question make you mad?
I don’t think there is a typical librarian, accountant, teacher, doctor or any other member of a profession. We are all individuals and arrived at our professions through different routes.
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