DGS School Library –
a Decade in Harper Building
Ten summers ago the library made a move into Harper Building. It was once in the current drawing classroom. After the boarders moved to the Louth Hospital in 2002, an emptied girls’ dormitory was turned
into a library, which later made space for a classroom. This became the current Study Hall, once a staff bedroom had been removed. Two Fifth Year students came in on a hot July day to bring 74 boxes of books across the new walkway linking the buildings. Blue shoe covers had to be put on each time, because the Lloors weren’t protected. There was an empty space, with the carpet yet to go down.
A carpenter asked what height and depth he should make the shelves. In public libraries and bookshops, people advised that though it was tempting to Lit in as much stock as possible, it’d be easier on the eye to break this up with display shelves; also books shown this way tended to be chosen more often.
A visit to Hay-on-Wye, the Welsh town with twenty+ bookshops, brought home how physically uncomfortable it is to stretch your neck sideways while approaching shelf after shelf of spines.
Also, in 2013 there weren’t that many books to Lind space for, because much of the existing stock had built up during the 80’s and 90’s
and while strong on English literature it leant towards academic reading. These books are now largely upstairs in Hanbidge House in storage. Some suffer from the period’s cover designs or have yellowed with age, which doesn’t do any favours to the quality of the writing, but they’re kept because the books were well-chosen.
In other cases fresher copies have been gotten and are to hand downstairs. The Young Adult genre has since been marketed by publishers, making it easier to build up a collection of titles with themes appealing to adolescents. It’s a matter of opinion whether, in the process, insecurities are being played on.
The Parent Teacher Association funded four sofas in 2014, and another two the following
year. These sofas were key. Visits to other school libraries showed, in most cases, study halls with bookcases to the rear or sides. Six iMac’s had been planned for the library along the workspace to the left, but these were moved into classrooms, where better use could be made of them. Online research could take place in class, at home or on phones. It’s possible to use devices to read for pleasure also, but when in this library, screens would be avoided, for the well-known reasons. If it was to be a place of reading as leisure, comfort would be needed. Tables are useful if making notes but sofas allow daydreaming and by their shape encourage you to stop moving.
IKEA had a range on which a student, on the way to hockey training in ALSAA, made their way around until it was narrowed to one sofa which suited everyone no matter their height, and was relaxing but not so soft as to drain you of energy. It had light coloured fabric covers which suited the bright space and were pleasant to touch. Against this, the argument was made that students would be
better matched with leather/vinyl sofas, like in a rented Llat, easier to keep clean. Instead, the message to students is that we’re fortunate to have such a space, so should respect the sofas that contribute to the comfort. Obsessive reminders not to have pens near the sofas, and to kick off shoes and curl up rather than mark the covers, have paid off.
There are students who come into the library and don’t make much headway reading, the book rests on their lap and they rest too. The library can be somewhere to stop and stare, as Minister for Education Richard Ryan described Transition Year when introducing it in 1974. For some students too, break and lunchtimes can be trickier to manage than class periods where there’s a set role for
everyone to follow. The library is a place where they don’t have to interact with others or present themselves.
The books currently on the library shelves were largely gotten over the last decade in charity shops. The monetary value placed on books in these shops is so low, that there’s never been a better time to build up a school library. This is tinged with sadness at noticing the number of traditional second-hand bookshops that have consequently closed. Typically, the books gotten skew more to Young Adult titles. From Dundalk’s St. Vincent de Paul shop, whose 3-for-€2 deals are, week in week out, the main source of books: Live YA
novels; an Irish novelist; Murakami; a
possible sui generis; poetry; and surprisingly short speeches from President Higgins.
Manna charity shop, Kells. It was the Guinness book that caught the eye, because when asking a random group of students what they’d like to see on the Study Hall shelf, one replied with that. He wasn’t joking - nods
from others backed him up. The Tiger Rising isn’t exactly a YA title, in that it isn’t conLined to that genre; a nice hardback printing also.
Shackleton’s diary is dense, but then that wouldn’t deter the exceptional reader who shares the explorer’s mentality; that’s the fourth edition of Jane Eyre we have now; Green’s popularity means it’s always good to
have multiple copies; both Barry and Doyle were in clean and attractive condition. The last four titles are spares and wouldn’t have been gotten, nor Shackleton, except the cost for all seven books was €1 in total. The actual charge was ten books for a euro, but there was nothing further worth taking.
Around the corner in the St. Vincent de Paul shop, these were priced at €1 each: a graphic novel; a YA title blurring the demarcation between text and image; literature from Germany, Iran, England and France; a different take on American history; plus Adorno, who’s tricky to summarize and whose inclusion verges on indulgence, except when books are available so cheaply, this is a
chance to gather titles for not solely years but decades ahead. The curriculum is evolving and may allow scope for students to study areas currently seen as niche.
Alongside the expected titles in the library on Irish politics, a wealth of Irish social history has built up, including on the 1970’s feminist movement, and earlier inspiration.
The Winter Papers, vol.4, was a real Lind. Leaving aside that it cost €2 as opposed to the actual €40 retailing price, it’s an annual collection featuring Irish authors, photographers, artists, dramatists etc and the paper and binding mark it out as something to keep for life.
Olivia Smith edits the Winter Papers with her husband, Kevin Barry, one of the modern Irish authors displayed on the stands, alongside others published by independent presses such as Tramp, Lilliput or Stinging Fly, whose editor, Declan Meade, credits his school library in Ardee with starting him off.
In 2015 the PTA also paid for a book-covering machine, much cheaper than getting this done outside school, except as with printers and ink cartridges the real expense is in the replacement stock of covers, which even in bulk work out at roughly a euro each. Often, the cover costs more than the book, and if a book is returned with cover badly scuffed that’s doubled. Accordingly, many of the books kept in storage haven’t been covered, and some on the shelves whose appeal is unproven aren’t either.
Three years ago students asked if chess could be played. A few sets turned up, but weren’t enough for the number interested; Live more sets were gotten, and are used during both lunches, plus at breaktimes students – and for some reason almost entirely lads - nip in to
start a match. If they keep their voices low there’s no barrier to others reading – though who knew chess could get so lively, with a crowd gathering - and perhaps a book cover will catch their eye and after the game they’ll go over and pick it up.
There’s always a jigsaw on the go. Anyone can add to it, though some students go through phases of returning daily.
When teachers bring classes students are steered to the Young Adult novels or the sports, music, cinema, fashion and biographies sections; the graphic novels shelf is the most popular; there’s a row of abridged novels, short stories abound and at the other end of the room there’s a bunch of photography titles, geography and popular history with an emphasis on visual sources.
Duty assistants and prefects set the tone at lunchtimes. Ideally, once they’ve checked the shelves are tidy and carried out whatever small chore has been set, they simply read. While doing so, they’ve to keep an eye on arrivals and if needs be, gently point out not to have phones out or bottles inside the library, or explain how to sign out books or note requests. If students come in simply to chat or eat, that requires Lirmness, with an awareness not to let things escalate, instead to look for the teacher on duty.
If students take out school books to study or do homework, they’re asked not to make a habit of this, because the sight can be jarring for students who are trying to escape classroom pressures. Students who want to do homework go to a nearby classroom.
Arguably, the student who’s so busy they have to work during lunch is by deLinition too busy
and might reassess their days, but there are times when after-school rehearsals, trainings or trips put them under pressure; the increased amount of class tests is also referred to. Providing a classroom for this, when the study hall has a different dynamic, is a compromise.
Anyone can access the website which shows what’s available
https://www.librarything.com/catalog/ DGSBiblio
though there are further books not yet catalogued, generally older titles which haven't been given priority.
When things came to life, that raised the issue of how to record loans. It’s expensive to use book-borrowing software, plus there’s the issue of data privacy. Alongside that, is the general distastefulness of noting what someone else is reading. It’s something that I need to be aware of so as to monitor returns and to gauge interest, but would much rather not know who the individual readers are.
Haruki Murakami’s school library borrowings were discovered and analysed, with the attempted justiLication that it gives insight into his own eventual writings. https://electricliterature.com/harukimurakamis-leaked-library-record-sparksprivacy-debate/
We desperately need privacy to formulate our thoughts, as opposed to curating our movements always with an eye to online appearances, so once the books have been returned by students the record sheet is torn up. This doesn’t give total privacy, so please let me know any better ways.
A decent range of literature has built up, yet Linding the most recent YA releases in charity shops is harder. Last December the Student Council ran an online survey to gather YA titles the library didn’t have. The PTA paid for the resulting list of new books to be gotten, which was a terriLic boost.
History titles keep accumulating; it’s unclear whether students are likely to work their way through more than a chapter for a special topic, but in years to come they might follow up on what they Lirst read about here.
Another aspect is past pupils at college looking to get their hands on scarce texts, who may look at the online catalogue and get in touch. This isn’t intended as transactional, but awareness that leaving school needn’t mean the end of contact may also in time lead to donations.
A family of past-pupils got in touch to ask if a deceased relative’s collection included books that might be appreciated by students. It turned out to be a humbling visit, leaving with the boxes shown above. They include literature, sociology and history, so it needs thought as to how best to make these accessible. There’ve been other kind donations over the years, but this is by some extent the most signiLicant, and might not have happened if the library wasn’t seen by students and parents as valued and maintained.
An Cailin Ciúin, the Oscar-nominated Irishlanguage Lilm, is based on Claire Keegan’s Foster. In an interview, she remembered the library in her school as somewhere she’d look
into but only that – it was always locked.
During the early years that was how this school’s library must have appeared, unless a teacher had brought a class, or a teacher was present at lunchtime. It seemed enough of a task to build up stock without worrying that books would be taken, then forgotten about.
During Covid the library became a classroom and an ad hoc common room for 6th Yrs, plus awareness of ventilation meant the door was kept open. When that ended, it left behind the possibility that students might, if spoken and listened to as individuals, value a well-lit space that has a different acoustic feel to the rest of the school.
In Baghdad’s Al-Mutanabbi market, lined with bookstalls, the books remain in the street at night because Iraqis say:
‘The reader does not steal and the thief does not read.’
Not being a great reader is no longer the stigma implied here, but the Lirst part should still apply. Theft isn’t so much a concern in the library, rather forgetful students. Through chatting with readers about their interests and gently – hopefully - pointing out how to care for say, photography books as objects and not to damage spines or mark pages, students may realise what’s being made available to them. That in time may lead to their wanting to support the system underpinning the library, something that may stay with them for life.
The library isn’t open during teaching hours without a teacher being present but increasingly, during stretches at lunch and break time and after school, students are showing that they can be trusted to quietly enjoy the space, alone.
FF, 25th September 2023
