Library Ireland Week 8-13 March 2010: @ Your Library

 

It was at a time when libraries were becoming more computerised and it seemed like an interesting career path. I worked as a Graduate Trainee in NUI Maynooth for a year and then went on to QUB to study for the postgraduate diploma.

What do you spend most of your day doing?

The work is very varied! As Institute Librarian my main role is management and planning. The working day can be very diverse, a typical day could include attending committee meetings, answering user queries on the Information Desk, giving information literacy tutorials to students, planning staff training and development, reviewing library publications, shelving books and of course answering lots of e-mails!

I am also library liaison for postgraduate researchers. This role is expanding as the institute develops its research agenda. Lots of people think that we take three months off in the Summer when most of our students have finished for the year – alas this is not the case! We spend that time preparing for the next academic year and making sure all our stock and services are in place for the incoming and returning students in September.

How many people do you work with?

We are currently a team of twenty in the library, five of whom work part time.

What do you most enjoy about the job?

I enjoy the variety of the work. No two days are ever alike! Working in an educational environment gives a sense of discovery & development and the hope that the library makes a real contribution to our student’s success.

What do you avoid doing most?

There’s very little that can be avoided! I do find that keeping up with changing technologies can be challenging to say the least!

How do you unwind after a hard day at the office?

I find a glass of wine and a good dinner almost always works! I enjoy cinema, theatre and have wide ranging tastes in music so I like to relax at home listening to a good CD (very old fashioned now I know - I don’t even own an iPod!). I do manage to fit in a good book occasionally!

Are you a “typical” librarian and if so, how or does this question make you mad?

I don’t think I fit the “typical” librarian stereotype, although I do now wear reading glasses, share my household with a cat and have noticed that my aversion to tweed skirts has diminished recently! The question doesn’t make me particularly mad as I’m sure that my stereotype of say, a typical actuary, is just as unrealistic and inaccurate as that of the “typical” librarian. The library profession has lots of dynamic, energetic and technologically savvy people so maybe the old image is starting to fade.