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Beyond books Helen Shenton , Librarian & College Archivist at Trinity, takes us through her day running one of the world’s great libraries, the beating heart of our university collection items out of the Old Library – that’s over 10 kilometres of books, or the distance from Trinity to Dublin airport – and cleaning, cataloguing and security-tagging them. Recently, our fire consultants commissioned extensive tests of potential fire- suppression systems in a burn house in Norway: a full-scale mock-up of the alcoves in the Long Room was created and set alight to carry out comparative tests. I was in my office, watching through live thermal imaging cameras online and nearly having a heart attack, because it was so realistic. In preparation for the work in the Old Library, we’ve created a new Research Collections Study Centre in the Ussher Atrium; the exquisite Printing House is being conserved for the display of the original Book of Kells; and a new immersive ‘Book of Kells Experience’, is currently showing in the ‘red pavilion’ in New Square. The exhibition has been getting enthusiastic reviews – and children are captivated by the talking statues, which include the new sculptures of women scholars unveiled on St Brigid’s Day last year, an event particularly close to my heart. And for the Book of Kells itself, we had already created a new inner Treasury with a superb display case in which it sits, jewel- like. The case was made by Goppian, the same company that created the protective cases for the British Crown Jewels, the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Mona Lisa. Lunch is generally at my desk or on the hoof, but if I’ve time I’ll head out with colleagues to Dunne & Crescenzi which, for my money, makes the best macchiato in Dublin. In term time I’ll be on campus many evenings, either catching up on work or attending events. Afterwards, I might meet friends to hear some music or eat in town. Ideally, I love to get in an evening sea swim if the tides suit, but in practice I only really get time to swim at the weekend. In a role as dynamic as this, every day brings its own set of challenges, whether it’s overseeing conservation projects, adapting to digital innovation, or balancing the needs of scholars and visitors. The quaint image of a librarian in an ivory tower, with a big stamp, reading books - people expect me to know every one of our seven million physical volumes and one million e-books! - is light years away from the reality. On any day I might be dealing with the consequences of world political events, such as recently, the energy-crisis and construction inflation, the major cyber-attack on the British Library, the Dublin riots or the implications of Artificial Intelligence. Throughout, I often hold onto the sentiment behind the quote we put on the wall of the Book of Kells Treasury by Jorge Luis Borges; “I have always imagined that Paradise will be a kind of library.”
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Professor Jarlath Killeen , Head of the School of English, examines the destructive allure of eternal youth in Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray The tragic obs w e i s th siyoonuth
