This woman is keeping the shelves in Cork city's libraries well stocked

NORA Harrington, from Waterfall, is an Executive Librarian with the Cork City Library Service.

“It is a short drive, but it was a long journey to reach this point!” says Nora.

As a youngster, she always wanted to work in libraries.

“I wanted to work in them since the age of 10, following an incident in primary school,” says Nora.

What was that?

“When I wasn’t allowed to borrow the school’s condensed copy of Little Women for the tenth time, I went home annoyed and told my mother! She explained there was a full-length version of this book plus three others and they were in the bookcase. I thought if I worked in the library, I could tell people this.” Nora had another ambition as well as working in the library.

“I also wanted to travel,” she says. 

Having got the travel out of my system, I was ready to commit to the library.

Nora got the necessary qualifications to pursue the career she craved.

“I received my library qualifications, an MSc in Library and Information Management, from Dublin Business School in 2011. I commenced my library career with the Cork County Library Service in 2016 when I was hired as a cataloguer,” says Nora.

What was the nature of a that job?

“It was my job to add new stock and to distribute it to the branches,” says Nora.

“I also worked in several branches as a library assistant. This was a valuable experience as it allowed me to see how things worked in different branches. You would think that if all branches were following the same policies, procedures, systems, etc, that they should all operate in the same way. However, the customer base in the branches can change how a branch is run.” Nora’s role changed in the library.

“I became an Assistant Librarian (a grade 5), in February, 2019. I transferred to Cork City Library Service, along with other members of staff, in May, 2019, under the boundary extension.” 

Nora was conscientious.

“At that time, Mr Liam Ronayne, the City Librarian, showed a great deal of faith in me by appointing me to run the Frank O’Connor Library in Mayfield. This was a challenge as everything was new, the staff, policies and procedures, etc.” Nora faced more challenges she didn’t expect.

“I was in Mayfield Library from June, 2019, to March, 2020, when we closed to the public due to the first lockdown,” she says.

“I was promoted to Acting Executive Librarian in April, 2020, and was re-assigned to Douglas Library. The library suffered catastrophic smoke and water damage following the fire in the car park in September, 2019. While the library premises were being cleared, I was given the task of buying the new stock for when it was ready to re-open.

I was assigned to Douglas Library until September, 2020, when I was transferred to the City Library on Grand Parade.

How does the City Library compare to those in the suburbs?

“It is very different to the suburban branches,” says Nora.

“It is much bigger, and it has a much more transient population. People who use the services are not necessarily members. This was a very different experience.

“I was responsible for running adult lending services. It was my job to ensure that we had the right resources for the right people at the right time.

“When I commenced in the City Library in September, 2020, we were still operating under restricted services due to the pandemic. The library did not fully re-open with the use of all services until January, 2022. I was looking forward to seeing how the branch operated with no restrictions.” Times changed.

“It is a very different building with no restrictions,” says Nora. “You get the full feel of the ebb and flow of people coming and going constantly.

“I was just adapting to the job and the new challenge when I was offered another opportunity. Due to staff changes, there was a secondment available for an Executive Librarian in Bibliographic Services.

“In a very broad sense, Bibliographic Services is the department that is responsible for the purchasing, cataloguing and distributing of new stock to the 10 branches, and the library link service in the Cork City Library Service.

“I was offered the role for three months, March to May, and looked forward to the opportunity. This was then extended by a further 12 months. I had been looking forward to my role in adult lending services, so I did feel a bit mixed about this. However, it has turned out to be a very satisfying job.” Nora is part of a hard-working team.

“The department has a very hard-working team of eight, including myself, who carry out the job. The role of the executive is to purchase the new stock for the service.

“The popular authors such as Catherine Ryan Howard, Sheila O’Flanagan, Catherine Kirwan, etc, are purchased automatically. My role is to buy fiction and non-fiction adult stock for our patrons, along with some DVDs.

We need to buy a wide range of stock to appeal to the diverse interests of our patrons. This has to be done within budget and taking into account library space. 

"Stock has to be purchased over the course of the year. This way, new releases can be bought as they are published. It can’t all be bought in one go.” How does Nora choose what books to buy?

“Choosing what to buy comes from a lot of different sources, patrons, staff, newspapers, publishers, etc,” says Nora.

“My team then adds the new stock to the system and distributes it to the branches. Derek Power is our delivery driver and he does a great job in distributing stock to the branches.

“For me, this job provides a very different kind of satisfaction. In a branch, the public can tell you if they liked a particular event or book display, etc. In bibliographic services, you are not working with the public directly. You don’t receive this feedback.

“The satisfaction I get is from seeing the stock that I carefully consider, choose and buy being borrowed by the public, or when I walk through the city library and I see the stands of new books and patrons borrowing them, it is very much an internal satisfaction and took me by surprise.” 

Nora reached out to everyone.

“I was also responsible for managing and running the Library Link services. This has just been passed to my colleague, Rose Smyth. This is our service where we deliver books and other items to patrons who are unable to visit the library due to illness, mobility issues, etc.

“It covers the city limits. In each branch we have a contact person who liaises with the patrons and delivers what they need. 

People can contact their local branch to ascertain if they can avail of this service.

Nora is delighted with her role in the library.

“I have now been in this role for over two years and absolutely love it,” she says. “For a role that was originally a three month secondment, it is the role I have now held the longest. For now, the role is still a secondment.” Nora’s own reading list will never shrink, she says, What’s the best book she ever read?

“The best book I have read in the past 12 months is Daughters Of Madurai, by Rajasree Vartyar,” says Nora.

“Some great summer reads to look out for are What Have You Done? by Shari Lapena. The Honeymoon Affair, by Sheila O’Flanagan, and Marry Me In Italy, by Nicky Pellegrino.” Cork City Libraries are very proud to support local writers.

“Some up and coming Cork writers to watch out for are Amy Cronin, Eleanor O’Kelly Lynch and Kevin Forde,” said Nora.

Some good recommendations from one who knows her books!