Ireland trip day three: Dublin

Day three of the trip, day three in Dublin, our last full day there.  I liked Dublin.  I think that surprised me.  It was a much more modern, European-cosmopolitan city than I had guessed.  It wasn't nearly so British as I thought it might be.  No, we didn't see the less wonderful parts of the city, and I am sure that, like any large city, Dublin has its worse-off areas and its challenges.  But no, Dublin was pretty cool and offered a lot for a group of librarians to explore and see and do.  I kind of wish we had had another day or more there.  Maybe it can be a destination for down the road, a place to get Conrad and Van to visit with me.  We shall see.

Anyway, back to day three....

Day three was wetter out, though once again bringing my umbrella along proved to ward off real rain.  I did try to dress a little more for meeting colleagues, however. 

Nice try, Peter, or something like that.  The group of us

set off for Marsh's Library. 

Marsh's is a public library but not THE public library.  An independent library, centuries old, and still in use by researchers.  The director met us at the entrance

and brought us in, spending a little time with us before handing us over to a colleague who gave us a very in-depth tour. 

Other tourists came past us, some stopped to listen for a while, but we were otherwise unbothered (and I'm sure they appreciated the detail).  The library isn't large, but the collections were impressive enough! 

Bullet holes! 

You already saw the Lego people tucked here and there, or I hope you did.  We were taken through the public space and then down to a private room where we were able to look more closely

at some treasures from the collections

including the ledger that documented a couple of visits by James Joyce.

It's really interesting to hear about how some of these old libraries were founded by wealthy men who had particular interests, and how the church - Anglican or Catholic - has had and may still have a relationship with the library in question.  Marsh's Library has a relationship with the Anglican cathedral,

St. Patrick's,

but is not part of the church.  Although we saw some beautiful older materials, it was learning about how the library manages what with its public mission, its historic collection, and its aging facilities that was perhaps the more interesting thing.

For lunch that day, Leigh had given me suggestions for places near the library, but we instead hopped back on the bus and made our way to near the National Gallery again.  I wasn't super hungry, so I used the first half of my time to pop into the National Museum of Ireland archaeological museum

that had been closed when we were near there earlier in the week.  It was a brief jaunt, but I whizzed through the exhibit on Irish gold

and past some of the medieval items upstairs. 

A sandwich for lunch in a place that was convenient but not entirely welcoming (and the sandwich was, well, food, nothing more), and then it was meeting the others to head to our afternoon destination:  University College Dublin (UCD).

UCD is not situated in the heart of Dublin but a little drive out from the core, so that gave us the chance to see more of the city.  Hooray for that.  It's a modern campus,

and the library was a brutalist piece of architecture. 

I say that not with scorn - I have previously worked many years in a similar such library.  And it was nice to not have a library that was a lovely old building but instead felt like so many libraries I have seen in my career here.  Bustling, so many services,

so many signs. 

Michelle, the librarian who led the discussion

and subsequent tour, was great.  And honestly?  This was the highlight of the trip for me from a professional perspective.  Getting to talk with colleagues and discuss what issues we face in serving students and how we're strategizing to address those issues was just great to do.  So, we learned about the sensory spaces for neurodivergent students, students whose accessibility needs my library has not considered all that well if at all.  We talked about accommodating a growing student population and how to make library spaces more inviting.  We talked about tutoring and other services in the library.  We walked around and saw the renovated third floor,

which was all very nice but doesn't add more study spots for students who desperately need them.  And we didn't just look at pretty, old materials.  In fact, we didn't look at any at all.  No dig at the libraries that showed us the cool, old stuff, but this afternoon's conversation felt meaty, worthwhile.

The successful (in my view) visit to UCD done, we headed back into the city core to the hotel to relax before dinner.  That provided me the only opportunity on the trip to try one of the places that Leigh had recommended, a nearby cocktail bar I've already blogged about.  After that, it was a group dinner.  Again, it was food, sorry.  Enjoyable evening, and my chicken was cooked nicely, but it's telling that I have photos of the company and not the food. 

I am a terrible snob, I know.  Ah well.

Then it was back to the hotel where we needed to be ready for leaving Dublin the next morning.  Alas.  Still, I'm glad for the time we had!