Half a century of library life

From fungus on the walls to purpose-built facility

Margaret Garvey still has the first payslip she received when she joined Galway County Library Service more than 50 years ago. She smiles as she recalls treating herself to a new pinafore from a Galway city boutique with some of her wages.

Over the past five decades, Margaret has become a familiar and friendly face to generations of library users in Tuam. She has worked in different buildings, alongside many colleagues, and through enormous changes in the service — yet she says there still isn’t a day she doesn’t love her work.

A native of Newbridge, Co Galway, Margaret was just 18 years old when she began working with the library service, then located above Galway Courthouse in Galway city. She had applied for the job while working in a B&B in Tralee.

It was a traumatic beginning to her career. Not long after she started, in May 1976, she received a phone call to say that her family home had gone up in flames.

County Librarian Tom Sharkey offered to drive her home and back, but Margaret remembers how different times were then.

“I was young and was used to doing what I was told,” she recalls. “My mother told me not to come home, so I didn’t.”

The fire was a near-tragedy for the family. Her youngest sister Bernadette and brother Hubert were rescued by a neighbour moments before the bedroom floor collapsed. The rest of the family had already managed to get out safely.

Margaret spent five years working in Galway city, an experience she says opened her eyes to a very different world from the rural life she had known growing up.

“We saw people from all walks of life coming into the courthouse,” she says. “At the time we probably didn’t understand the difficulties some of those people were facing. I’d never really been anywhere before, so it was a completely different world to me.”

During those years, Margaret got married and, after discovering she was expecting twins, accepted a ‘marriage gratuity’ from the library service. Tragically, however, the babies died in hospital and never came home.

Around that time, Margaret had become friendly with the late May Grogan (née Walsh) of Ballygaddy Road, who worked in Tuam Library and was well known to generations of local readers. Margaret occasionally covered shifts for May and, following her death, Galway County Council asked Margaret to return to the service.

Big moves in Tuam

At the time, Tuam Library operated from the ground floor of the Town Hall in The Square.

“It was dark and dreary,” Margaret remembers. “There were mushrooms on the ceiling and damp on the walls.”

Renovation works eventually improved the building, but conditions were basic. There was no telephone, meaning Margaret often had to lock the door and cross The Square to use the phone in the old Imperial Hotel whenever she needed to contact library headquarters in Galway.

Everything was done manually in those days, from cataloguing books to recording loans and collecting fines.

“We had to follow the rules,” she says. “If a book was overdue, there was a fine. That was just the way it was.”

After several years in the Town Hall building, Margaret took another break from the service. When she returned, the library had moved to the former red-brick Bank of Ireland building on Shop Street, where she remembers many happy years working alongside colleagues Frances Murphy, Sheila Roche and Josephine Gormally.

Looking back, she marvels at how dramatically the service has changed — from handwritten records and wooden trays of borrowing cards to full computerisation in 2003.

Borrowing books decades ago was far more labour-intensive than it is today. Members could borrow only three books at a time, and reserving a title involved a lengthy process.

“If someone wanted to reserve a particular book, we had to write a letter to let the person know when it was available,” Margaret explains. “That was the only way of contacting members.”

Another major milestone came in 2010, when Tuam Library relocated from Shop Street to its current purpose-built premises on High Street.

The move brought more space, more books and additional staff — although Margaret jokes that it also brought a lot more steps.

“I could easily clock up 20,000 steps a day going up and down the stairs,” she laughs.

While she appreciates the modern facilities, she feels a single-level layout would be easier for some library users.

No whispers

Today’s library service is a far cry from the quiet, almost silent environment she first entered all those years ago.

“There’s always something happening now,” she says. “We have a book club, craft group, local history group and Soundbites bringing music into the library.

“Years ago you barely whispered. We were always conscious of speaking too loudly because those were the rules.”

Margaret’s lifelong love of books and reading made library work a natural fit.

“When I was in school, we used to visit the library in Ballygar and I also remember the mobile library coming to Newbridge,” she says.

Over the years she worked in several areas of the service, including the mobile library.

“I could still name all the stops,” she says with a smile. “Back then we had the chance to work in different areas, which gave us great experience.”

A keen local historian, Margaret is especially proud of the local history section in Tuam Library. She also spent years helping library users access archived editions of The Tuam Herald through the microfilm system.

For Margaret, helping people discover books, research family history or simply find information remains one of the most rewarding parts of the job.

“The service has changed hugely,” she says. “Now we can reserve books from libraries all over the country. We have books in different languages and formats, including books for people with dyslexia. It has evolved so much.”

Like many public services, the library faced enormous challenges during the Covid-19 pandemic. During lockdowns, Margaret began preparing bundles of books for readers to collect — an initiative she still continues for older people who cannot easily leave their homes.

“I’m really proud of that,” she says. “Some people who used to come into the library can’t anymore, so I choose books for them, drop them off and collect them again afterwards.”

The Sylane area has long since become Margaret’s home, while Tuam Library has become her second home.

“I’ve had many great years in the library,” adds Margaret, who is delighted it has become much more of a social and community space.

“I’ve always thought it’s important to be the person you’d like to meet.”

Changes to retirement rules mean staff can now remain in service until the age of 70, and Margaret says she has no plans to leave anytime soon.

Still, she laughs that she is now “on the home straight”.