DLR LIBRARY BLOG

Why I Love My Library
by
Patrick Roche

When my family immigrated to England back in the 1950's I was a young lad of thirteen and totally unprepared for the culture shock involved. I hated the change from the flexible regime of the Irish Secondary School I had attended in Dublin to the regimented traditions of the English grammar school in which I was now enrolled. The transition had a detrimental effect on my studies and I began to retreat into a world of my own spending many hours of the school day dreaming while studying the changing hues of the ivy that grew prolifically on the red brick mock gothic walls of the college.

I had always loved drawing and painting and to my delight my new school curriculum included a forty minute art class once a week. A real artist, a Polish émigré who had fled the Nazis and settled in London during the war,taught the class. He often used lavishly illustrated art books to show how the artists of the past had used colour,line and form to express their thoughts and feelings. I longed to own such books myself and asked my teacher if I could borrow some. He refused my request and suggested that instead I join the local Library which had a particularly good Art section.

That library became my second home and I would spend most of my free time unearthing its treasures. Here I came to understand and appreciate the great masterpieces of art from the earliest cave paintings to the challenging work of the painters of the twentieth century. In the book scented warmth of that library my loneliness was forgotten in the company of genius.

I did eventually adjust to my new school and I have many fond memories of the English grammar school system I first so hated. Indeed it was almost with reluctance that at the age of eighteen I returned to Dublin as my Mother had patriotically decided that the family should return to our native land.

I enrolled in the National College of Art, which was located right beside the National Library of Ireland on Kildare Street. For a young art student this was a fantastic resource. If inspiration flagged when painting in the studios of the art college the short trip to the great domed reading room of the national library was a great reviver for the spirit. I well remember the feeling of privilege and anticipation while waiting for the books I had ordered to be delivered.

Books on anatomy, books on aesthetics, books on technique,biographies - the wealth of information was at first a little daunting but one soon became skilled in researching the library catalogue and finding material relevant to ones needs. I learned far more in that library than I did in the art college and will always be grateful for the gap it filled in my artistic education.

When I bought my first house I was thrilled as it was located at the top of Library Road the home of the Dun Laoghaire Library. This meant that I was never more than a few minutes from one of my favourite places and during the many years I have lived in Dun Laoghaire that short walk down the Library Road laden with my book returns has never lost its special magic.Those recently read books always raised questions to be answered, the desire to read more of a particular author or another new subject to be researched. The anticipation of an hour or two browsing for my new selection of books has lifted my mood even on the dullest of days.

Now that the library has entered the digital age the online services it provides enables me to search for, renew and reserve books from the comfort of my living room. The library even has the courtesy to send me an email warning that my books are due for renewal or return within three days. I'm sure this decency has deprived the Dun Laoghaire Rathdown Council of a revenue stream from absent minded readers like me. I can even skip my little stroll down Library Road and download ebooks,audio books, music and video directly onto my computer.

On the first Saturday of each month I meet a wonderful group of people at our book club hosted by the DL library. The staff cordon off an area for us where we can discuss our latest read in relative privacy and comfort. Each month we make a request for a title to read for the following month and the librarian checks to see if enough copies are available within the DL Rathdown branch libraries. If so our book choice is ready for collection at our next meeting.This service is much appreciated by our group and also has introduced me to reading material way outside my comfort zone.

This short piece on why I love my library would never have been written but for the six-week on creative writing taught by Mary O'Brien and hosted by the Dundrum Library as part of the Bealtaine programme for 2006.Here I was inspired to express myself in yet another form and am pleased to say that I and most of the members of that class are still goin strong.We have established ourselves as"The Writeaway Writers Group" and meet bi-monthly in Dundrum Library. For more information please visit our web site at http://arthack.com/writing_group/index.php

Patrick Roche

DLR Libraries would like to thank Patrick for this piece @ Why I Love My Library