Culture Near You: Kevin Street Library

Tell us a bit about yourself and your work ...

My name is Chris and I work as a library assistant in Kevin Street Library.

If you use your local library the people you find behind the desks there are most likely library assistants. In our branch, our librarian Charlotte manages the branch and staff, we have a senior library assistant, Eileen and several library assistants (Ciarán, Kevin, Yvonne and myself) who perform the day to day duties of running a library; a cleaner, Jacinta who comes in at the crack of dawn and does an amazing job of keeping the place clean and tidy; and our attendant Mark who is responsible for deliveries, collections and generally maintaining a safe and welcoming environment for all of us - borrowers and staff alike.

My day can involve lots of different activities and tasks - from taking in new stock, sending items people are looking for to distribution centres, taking deliveries for items our borrowers are looking for, or helping some of our visitors out with the PCs in the library.

We also host many events throughout the year. While previously the majority of these would take place in our branch currently they are run online. Dublin City Libraries along with the Festival of History recently ran a fantastic series of events which we were delighted to be a part of.

Pre-pandemic, my colleague Ciarán and I would run a toddler storytime on Wednesdays which was great fun and very popular. It would involve us reading stories, leading some games, doing some stretches and songs. It was great fun and we are both looking forward to the day when we can do it again.

Why did you decide to work in libraries, and what do you enjoy most about your role?

I am relatively new to the libraries having started in 2017 and my path to the libraries was a long and meandering one. I spent most of my career self-employed and in that capacity I did quite a varied and occasionally bizarre collection of things. I studied theatre in Wales, Iowa and Chicago before settling back home in Dublin. Initially I did work in and around the theatre, making props, directing school plays, stage managing, choreographing flights, tour, company, box office and production managing.

I spent time as a tour guide, entertainment manager in nightclubs and in a company that develops educational products for children. I began to think about a change, saw the library position advertised, and felt it would be a good fit.

I had a good feeling about the job but I suppose like most people I thought the job was primarily about dealing with books and I would be starting on a new path from square one. In my experience to date in the libraries, the job is really much more about people and in many ways there is a huge amount of crossover in what I have done before. Events, talks, school tours, storytelling, hospitality, education are all really relevant library work. I absolutely love working in Kevin Street and the longer I am in the role the more reasons I find to enjoy it. I feel very lucky to have found a job I genuinely love.

You created a great website called A Stone’s Throw from Kevin Street. Could you tell us a little bit about it?

During the complete lockdown part of the pandemic, library staff were encouraged to train and upskill which was fantastic. I applied to UCD to study Digital Methods and Data Literacy where over the course of a couple of months were were assigned various projects. I found the course to be excellent. When it came time to decide on our final project I decided to do something adjacent to my work in the library. I’ve always loved the area around Kevin Street library and live locally. I had zero interest in history when I was younger but my natural curiosity about the area around me sparked the idea for A Stone’s Throw. I wanted to make something easily accessible to all/most ages that was to the point and easy to read. I hope that is what it turned out to be.

Kevin Street Library is located in a very historic part of Dublin - do you have a favourite historical Dublin fact?

The first fact that popped into my mind was that S-Club 7 filmed their video for “Don’t Stop Movin’” in the Camden De Luxe! But let me think a little more . . . there was a pleasure garden in Portobello with wild animals, tightrope walkers and a volcano that erupted. Oh, and there’s a bomb shelter underneath Oscar Square in the Tenters.

Do you have a favourite section in Kevin Street Library?

I love the Barrington Stoke and Little Gem books. They are designed for young readers who, for whatever reason, haven’t really clicked yet with reading. They are well designed, easy to read and the authors they choose are brilliant. I also love picture books. Some of them are really stunning. Peter Donnelly and Oliver Jeffers are fantastic.

What type of books do you most enjoy reading?

For me it’s nearly all non-fiction. I like to know how to do things, how things work and why things are the way they are. I cycle through various hobbies at an alarming rate. When I do read fiction, I need it to be short, compelling and to the point. My cousin, Liz Nugent, is a crime writer, and I flew through her books for exactly that reason.

What advice would you have for someone who might like to read more but isn’t sure where to start?

Start with something you enjoy already. What are you interested in? What do you want to know more about? What sort of films do you watch? Thrillers? Rom-Coms? Start with a genre you know you like already. They other thing I would try if you are short on time or find reading too passive is audiobooks. You can listen to them while folding laundry, walking the dog, cooking. I find if I am doing an activity I can concentrate on an audiobook. Sometimes I find when I sit and read, after about 20 minutes, my mind wanders and I get restless so audiobooks are great for me.

What’s your favourite thing to do in Dublin?

The parks in Dublin are world class and I’ve discovered that staying connected to nature is absolutely essential to my mental health. I have a dog and we love to go walking through parks listening to an audiobook or podcast. Parks are your garden and libraries are your living room.

What are you most looking forward to at the library in the coming weeks/months?

I am looking forward to being able to have events in the library, to be able to encourage people to linger, to have lively school visits, book clubs and creative writing groups back again.

Lastly, what has been your favourite or most surprising discovery on the Culture Near You map so far?

There is so much information in the Culture Near You Map, I have spent hours going through it and it’s hard to pick a favourite. I felt I had a fair idea of what is going on around me but there is so much more available than I ever would have guessed. There is a huge amount of information about community and volunteer groups. For anyone who is new to Dublin, volunteering in the community is an excellent way to meet people and get to know people in your neighbourhood.