Books are My Business: Martin O'Connor, UCC Boole Library

Martin O’Connor is communications coordinator with UCC Library and Information Services, based in the Boole Library. He also hosts Shush! Sounds from UCC Library, a weekly show on UCC Campus Radio.

Martin O’Connor is communications coordinator with UCC Library and Information Services

How did you become a librarian?

Purely by chance, really. I did business in college but it wasn’t me so I left after two years. 

I then worked in the Simon Community in Cork for a year and after that I lived in London and Copenhagen. 

I went back to UCC as a mature student when I was 25 to do an arts degree. 

I went on to do an MA in sociology and at the same time I got a job in the library as a student help, in 2000. 

I loved the work. A position as a library assistant came up, I went for it and got it and I’ve been happy here since then.

What does your role involve?

Anything involved with communications, I’m on it. I look after social media, content, newsletters, reports, blogs, all of that. 

Recently, I’ve also taken on the role of looking after social media for Cork University Press, who are actually based in UCC library. 

I love being in the position to tell people about all the great stuff that we do. I am almost like a cheerleader for the library, which I enjoy very much.

What do you like most about your job?

Probably the people. All of us in the library are really passionate about our work. 

There are a lot of different areas in the library and I learn from my colleagues every day. 

As a profession, the library community is really close and collegiate — there is a lot of support from other universities. 

Obviously, the library is at the centre of UCC itself so it’s great to work with academics and researchers. 

Then there are the students who are at the start of their lives and make it a really positive environment to work in.

What do you like least about your job?

It’s not the job per se but it is probably the perception that people have about libraries. 

We don’t spend our days shelving books, reading books and shushing folk. 

We teach people, we research and we also publish. 

We help people and provide access to information for all our users.

What is it like working in a university library?

There are 23,000 students and about 4,000 staff in UCC — it is like a little town in Cork. 

When exams are coming up or assignments are due, it is exceptionally busy. 

There are 2,500 seats in the library and it will be full from the end of November to December and April to the end of May. The place is buzzing.

What are your own memories of libraries?

I grew up in Limerick and I remember going to the city library up by the People’s Park by myself from about aged eight. 

I would get about three or four books every week. I was a voracious reader. The library allowed me to read hundreds of books a year.

What are your favourite books?

My favourite book since I was a child is Alice in Wonderland. It is completely fun and absurd and I still go back to it now. 

It is a really deep text — we have a lot of books in the library here that are psychological, economic or historical analyses of it. 

I also love Tennessee Williams, he is a really passionate writer and I think he is a bit underestimated — The Glass Menagerie is one of the best things I have ever read. 

I tend to read non-fiction but when I do read fiction, it’s usually dystopian fiction. 

I love the classics like Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, Brave New World by Aldous Huxley and Orwell’s 1984. 

I also love Kazuo Ishiguro, especially Never Let Me Go and Klara and the Sun. I like books that deal with ideas.

What’s the best book you read recently?

That would probably be Broken Greek by Peter Paphides. 

It’s a memoir about the power of music, family dynamics and cultural identity. It is a beautifully written book and I recognise a lot of myself in it.