Leanna Byrne
Deputy Editor
The most valuable thing about the Library is that everybody finds it to be one big secret. This is all very confusing to the library staff. All the library tours, seminars and library guides in the world would have little or no effect on the undergrad mentality towards the library.
This year, the new self-service system has been introduced; the digital library collection now holds 100,000 images of print and manuscript material in the library and we even have fancy seats. That said, they are all the positives. With the Global Relations Strategy just launched the library struggles to survive under a new funding scheme that will force them to fight to be noticed.
Librarian and College Archivist Robin Adams has been in this business for 35 years and is now set to take early retirement this year. He explained how he went from his local library to the library in Queen’s University in Belfast. ‘Then after that I thought of it as a career and did postgraduate qualifications in Queen’s. I’ve worked in Queen’s, Cambridge, Glasgow and here.’
He started off by providing students and medical researchers with electronic information. He told me that it was just a job really, but the work he was doing proved to be the advent of electronic information. ‘Since then, technology has transformed the whole work flow,’ he told me. ‘How we’re taught, how we learn, how libraries operate and look has changed. They behave differently and have become less informal.’
Surely with the advent of e-books and new information systems there is no need for the library building or even a librarian? He replied that of course in theory you could sit in your office or bedroom without ever needing to go into a building for information; but people still value a space that has a common purpose. As for the job of the librarian, Adams felt the ‘gung-ho approach is not always the best way of doing things, particularly in an academic library’.
Reforms pushed through under the new Global Relations Strategy have placed further pressure on the already strained library budget
Just last month the GRS was launched to ‘build on Trinity’s strong international reputation for research, teaching and innovation’. But will it put a strain on the students’ most important resource? ‘It certainly will in some ways,’ he told me. ‘We will have students coming in with a very, very broad understanding of what a library is. The fact is we’re not prepared for that. It should be part of the strategy to bring people here particularly since these people will be paying significant fees so they will have certain expectations on its services so it’suptoustocomeuptothe mark and deliver.’
At the same time, it’s not easy to see how Trinity is investing in this resource with all the cuts being made. In- deed, this newspaper recently published a report outlining budgetary cuts of close to €800,000 for the coming year. He explained that the library boasts unexplored resources and that for a library that has been here for 400 years, we were are not short of materials. Nevertheless, the library cuts have pushed them to the limit. ‘It’s tough and it’s difficult in two ways really. Up until last June the library generated commercial income from its own commercial activities. The college would be given some money from that, but the rest was reinvested in library services. Now money will all go to the college and be allocated by priorities. That means the library has a challenge because we now have to make the case that we are important to support research.’
He pointed out the college could do damage if they do not provide enough supporting infrastructure. ‘I think that’s a real problem and I feel that it will be a greater problem in the future. It’s important that any part of the university that is generating income should receive recognition of that and I think this will be a difficulty’.
Then, I boldly enquired whether or not the library cuts were necessary. He smiled wryly at me. ‘As I understood, everyone had to take a blow. I would say this, of course, that the library should be protected because if you don’t have a library, you don’t have a university.’
One cannot but admire his diplomacy. Finally, is he sad about leaving? ‘It has been great, or even fun, in a way. There’s been highs and lows. I found the diverse organisation invigorating. I suppose what I’m trying to say is that if a student has the time they should potter around and look at stuff that is nothing to do with their course. The other thing to say is that if you want something, don’t be afraid to ask. It’s great to work with students because they tell you exactly what they want. That’s part of the reason why the library can be a change enabler.’
