DCU Library

Thank you to @kobpix.bsky.social for the fabulous pictures!

A group of people standing and looking at the camera

Groups of seated people talking

Six people standing in a row

Four people standing beside a screen with an image of a man with a cane on it beside the text Ulysses...an Odyssey

The Ulysses Book Club held its final session in @dublincityuni.bsky.social last night. Huge thanks to Jennifer Whelan and Claire Devlin whose insights into Joyce's writing and Dublin's history made the journey through Ulysses so enjoyable. Thanks to DCU Arts and Culture for a brilliant initiative!

What is a Human Library? It's a "library" where people, instead of books, are on loan to readers. Its purpose is to challenge stereotypes and prejudices through open, honest conversation. Image is of a person with blue hair in a tshirt and sunflower print overalls with a raised hand

The role of Books and Readers. The books: Volunteers who have faced stigma or prejudice. They are there to share their story and answer questions. The readers: visitors who "borrow" a person to learn about their life and challenge their own biases. Image is of a person with blue hair in a tshirt and sunflower print overalls with a raised hand

How the event works Browse: you look through a catelogue of "titles" (people) available to engage in an open and honest dialogue. Borrow: You "check out" a person for a 20-30 minute conversation. Discuss: You sit down and talk. You are encouraged to ask difficult or curious questions in a respectful safe environment. Return: You finish the session, "return" your book, and can choose a new title Image is of a person with blue hair in a tshirt and sunflower print overalls with a raised hand

Join us tomorrow for The Human Library from 2-4.30pm

It’s all about open, honest conversation in a safe space to help us all "unjudge" someone.

RSVP: dcu.ie/library/human-library-dcu

@dublincityuni.bsky.social

Kevin Curran will join us for a Book Club event to discuss his novel 'Youth' on Thursday, the 19th of March. To register, please go to: launch.dcu.ie/3NbsKrf @dculibrary.bsky.social

Entries to the competition displayed inside Cregan Library

The winners to the competition on display by the Cregan library gates

An entrant to the competiiton called Glu Stick who's a personified glu stick! Winner of Funniest Character in their age category

A winner of Most Original Design category in age bracket 4-6. Bolt, a boy, has blue eyes, anchor earrings, a red tshirt and likes spending time outdoors

The DCU Library My Original Book Character Competition exhibition will run until 10/3 both outside and inside Cregan Library!
400+ entrants designed their own book characters & winners picked by Clíodhna Noonan, the CPYA Artist in Residence with @dcuioe.bsky.social
@dublincityuni.bsky.social

Two women sitting in chairs in front of a seated audience. One woman is talking and using her hands to gesture.

Thanks to @wednesdayerskin.bsky.social for joining us for last night's #DCUBookClub - we could have listened to her discussing her novel The Benefactors all night. Thanks also to @kobpix.bsky.social for all the fabulous pictures. We'll see you for Kevin Curran and Youth in March!

A man looking at the camera

Youth by Kevin Curran

Join us for the next #DCUBookClub on 19th March with Kevin Curran who'll be discussing his novel Youth. Tickets are free but disappearing fast so book today! www.eventbrite.ie/e/dcu-book-c...

Saints by TimMacGabhann

Hunchback by Saou Ichikawa

Three women looking at the camera

We love our writers' recommendations at the #DCUBookClub! Wendy Erskine recommends The Hunchback by Saou Ichikawa and Saints by Tim MacGabhann. What a great evening we've had discussing The Benefactors - thanks to DCU Arts and Culture for another great night!

A woman speaking

What I'm trying to do is to leave space for the readers to make their own conclusions... you're left to make the connections yourself. Wendy Erskine talks about her novel The Benefactors at the #DCUBookClub

Two seated women in front of an audience

Wendy Erskine on her consideration of her readers at the #DCUBookClub "It's an act of generosity that you're prepared to give my fictive world nine hours of your time...nobody should take that for granted."

Two seated women in front of a seated audience

This is a book to do with attitudes about class, money, gender, relationships, responsibility and charity. Wendy Erskine explores the themes in her novel The Benefactors at the #DCUBookClub

A seated woman speaking

Wendy Erskine talks about her move from writing short stories to a novel at the #DCUBookClub. "It's a luxury to stay with the same characters for a year and a half...I wanted to tell a story that had a proliferation of voices."

Two women standing in front of book shelves

Wendy Erskine joins us for the @dublincityuni.bsky.social Book Club tonight to discuss her novel The Benefactors with @orlanicaodha.bsky.social from DCU Library and our book club audience #DCUBookClub

Image on left: Author Wendy Erskine sits on a yellow chair in a brown courdoroy dress. She has bright blonde hair and a fringe. Image on right: Cover of Wendy Erskine's book, The Benefactors

The Benefactors by Wendy Erskine is February's DCU Book Club book of choice!

Join us for a conversation with the author and a Q&A, tomorrow 6.30pm at Belvedere Library

Free entry, all welcome

RSVP: www.eventbrite.ie/e/dcu-book-c...

@dublincityuni.bsky.social
@wednesdayerskin.bsky.social

Twelve sketches showing stick figures dancing, talking, fainting and walking

These quaint sketches illustrating dance etiquette will help you impress your beloved this #ValentinesDay. This guide from the Kildare Place Society will help you hone your dance moves, conduct an effective 'tête-à-tête' and manage bouts of fainting.

A child colouring a page with brightly coloured pencils, the childs face is in the background and out of focus, the coloured pencils are in sharp focus in the foreground

DCU Library invites primary school students aged 4–6, 7–9 and 10–12 to enter the My Original Book Character Competition.
Prizes include €25 book tokens, with an exhibition of finalists in Cregan library.
Deadline: 12 Feb 2026.
Full details here:https://bit.ly/4a1U8k5
@dublincityuni.bsky.social

Engraving of St. Brigid in typical nun-attire, sitting with an open text in her lap. She has an inkpot in one hand and a quill in the other, and has been interrupted wheile writing by an angel, which is looking over her shoulder. A comic speech bubble has been added to the engraving, with the text "Is there anything to be said for having another bank holiday?!"

I mean, we do think Brigid was some woman, so maybe 2 bank holidays honouring her isn't such a bad idea?
This image is taken from 'The Life of St. Brigid' by Rev. John O'Hanlon.
Thanks to our colleagues in Special Collections & Archives for yet another gem!
📚 #stbrigid

Our long awaited submission for this month's Explore Your Archive theme!
It's important to take the time to clean Early Printed Books thoroughly and safely, leaving little MARGIN for error.
Not for the faint of heart (though certainly weirdly satisfying!)
#EYADustbusters
@dublincityuni.bsky.social

Thanks for joining us on a wintry night Nicola - I hope you agree that it was well worth the journey to hear @kitdewaal.com discussing the Best of Everything. We hope to see you for Wendy Erskine discussing her novel The Benefactors in February!

Four people standing in a row, with Kit De Waal holding her novel The Best of Everything: Ellen Howley (DCU School of English), Kit De Waal (author), Marcella Bannon (DCU Arts and Culture) and Eilís O'Neill (DCU Library).

Huge thanks to DCU Arts & Culture, @kitdewaal.com & Ellen Howley for another successful DCU Book Club proudly supported by DCU Library. Shout out to Daire Hall for the fab pictures! Join us with @wednesdayerskin.bsky.social & her novel The Benefactors in February - all welcome tinyurl.com/2djvvyd4

A seated audience of people clapping, facing two people sitting in armchairs

Book cover of Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert featuring an illustration of a woman in mid 19th century clothing

Cover of the audiobook version of Little Dorrit by Charles Dickens, read by Anton Lesser

Author of The Best of Everything @kitdewaal.com tells the @dublincityuni.bsky.social Book Club audience that Madame Bovary helped her become an avid reader. She recommends audiobooks as another way to enjoy literature, praising Little Dorrit read by Anton Lesser #DCUBookClub

Two seated women speaking in front of a seated audience

In The Best of Everything @kitdewaal.com explores the immigrant experience and she talks about her life growing up in Birmingham with an Irish mother and a father from the West Indies at the @dublincityuni.bsky.social Book Club

A woman sitting in an armchair speaking to another seated woman

Bestselling author @kitdewaal.com talks about her experience of writing at the @dublincityuni.bsky.social Book Club:You have to commit to the page, be moved yourself, be hurt yourself. I'm feeling the love and the laughter to get it down in the page.

A woman sitting in a chair facing an audience

A writer writes a book but it's a thousand books - it's the reader who interprets it based on their own lives and experiences- @kitdewaal.com at the @dublincityuni.bsky.social Book Club

A woman in a chair speaking another seated woman listening

Kit de Waal talks about the moments of sunshine and heartbreak in The Best of Everything that make up the main character Paulette's life and the disruptions that get in the way of her wish for normality. #DCUBookClub

A crowd of seated people facing two people sitting in armchairs

We have a full house at the first @dublincityuni.bsky.social Book Club of 2026! @kitdewaal.com discusses her bestelling novel The Best of Everything with Dr Ellen Howley from the DCU School of English.

An image of five books on their size being held in front of a green plant and a warm toned library

Coming down with books after a big ol' January spring cleaning? Share them with DCU Library's Book Swap & do your bit towards sustainable reading practices!

For more info: www.dcu.ie/library/dcu-...

@dublincityuni.bsky.social @dcuioe.bsky.social @dcuclimate.bsky.social

2 students standing in front of a bookshelf. One student is showing a book to another.

Feeling blue this Monday? There's a book for that!
Our Live Wise Book Therapy collection is full of supportive material to enhance wellbeing and resilience.
This collection is curated and managed by the Counselling and Personsl Development service and DCU Library.
shorturl.at/Z0hzo

Cover of the book 'The Best of Everything' with a label attached reading: DCU Book Club returns Jan 22nd

The DCU Book Club is back for 2026 with Kit de Waal’s 'The Best of Everything.'
This is a free, community event and open to all. You don’t need to be a DCU student or staff member to attend, but registration is required: bit.ly/44W82kY

Wishing all our library users a very happy and safe Christmas
We’ll be finishing up today at 5pm, are and looking forward to a wee staff party in Cregan Library 💃🪩🕺
We reopen on 5 January and can’t wait to welcome you back in the New Year!
@dublincityuni.bsky.social