Marta Bustillo 

Marta Bustillo joined the Academic & Special Libraries Section of the LAI in 2023, and has also been Chair of the Career Development Group and Events Officer for the Open Scholarship Group of the LAI. Marta is Digital Learning Librarian at University College Dublin, where she leads in the creation of library supports to help staff and students develop digital literacy skills. She has a PhD in Art History and an MA in Information and Library Management, with over 20 years’ experience working in academic libraries in Ireland and the U.S

David Hughes

David has over 30 years’ experience in the LIS sector and has worked in a variety of roles in the public and private sector in both the UK and Ireland including cataloguer, indexer, project manager and systems librarian. During his time in the Dublin Business School library he developed an enthusiasm (not a passion!) for open-source software. He currently works for Education and Training Boards Ireland where he manages a digital library for the further education and training sector and has developed an enthusiasm (again, not a passion) for open educational resources. David helped establish the LAI’s Open Scholarship Group.

Genevieve Larkin 

Genevieve Larkin began her career in the public library sector in 2006, and moved to academic libraries in 2008.  She has acted as Secretary for the Career Development Group of the LAI and is currently the Treasurer for the Academic and Special Libraries section. She was appointed Head of Library Services in the Marino Institute of Education in 2019, and is particularly interested in designing and managing inclusive and user-focused library services, collections and spaces. 

Fiona Logan 

Fiona Logan joined the Academic and Special Libraries group of the LAI in 2019 and is the current Chair of the group. She holds the role of Assistant Keeper in the Department of Published Collections in the National Library of Ireland.  She has over 20 years’ experience working in academic and research libraries. 

Deirdre McGuinness 

Deirdre McGuinness is a Librarian in William Fry LLP. She graduated from Aberystwyth University with a Masters in Information and Library Studies in 2013 and has worked in the library sector for over 10 years, with experience in public, academic, and parliamentary libraries. She joined the Academic & Special Libraries Committee in 2015, and currently serves as Secretary. 

Niamh McHenry 

Niamh McHenry is the Teaching, Outreach and Engagement Librarian at Marino Institute of Education, where she manages the library’s social media presence, organises outreach initiatives, and delivers embedded classes. Prior to this, she worked as an outreach librarian and later Digital Literacy Librarian for Dublin Business School, which sparked her interest in all things library instruction, information literacy, and library outreach.

Aoife Murphy 

Aoife is Assistant Keeper II of Service Delivery in the National Library of Ireland. Prior to this she worked as an Assistant Librarian and Manager of Research and Information Literacy in Dublin Business School, where she developed a keen interest in libraries as accessible physical and digital spaces.

Dimphne Ni Bhraonain

Dimphne Ní Bhraonáin is the Deputy Librarian at Griffith College, where she supports academic and digital literacies across various faculties, with a particular focus on inclusive learning environments. As the manager of the college’s institutional repository, she works to enhance the visibility of research produced by Griffith College’s students and faculty. Dimphne is also a committee member of the Higher Education Colleges Association Library group.

Dererca Nolan

Dererca has worked in libraries since 2006 beginning in public libraries in Galway and joining The Library of Trinity College Dublin in 2011. She recently moved from a series of Readers’ Services roles to the Legal Deposit department in Trinity. She has an MSc in Management of Library and Information Services from Aberystwyth
University. She has a keen interest in equitable access to information and the complexities in ensuring that items remain accessible to future researchers.

Martin O’Connor 

Martin O’Connor is Communications Coordinator at UCC Library. He has widely published and presented in the areas of library outreach and communications, marketing of libraries, social media, blogging, podcasting, leadership and Chinese Librarianship. He co-runs Libfocus, the Library blog. He runs the award-winning music and socio-cultural blog The Blackpool Sentinel. He also hosts the weekly radioshow Shush! Sounds from UCC Library on UCC 98.3FM. 

He was awarded the LAI (Library Association of Ireland) / CILIP (Chartered Institute of Library & Information Professionals) Library Staff Champion Award in 2021. 

Eilís O’Neill 

Eilís O’Neill is the Outreach and Engagement Librarian in DCU Library, situated within the library’s Public Services and Outreach directorate. Prior to this, she was a member of the Research and Teaching team in DCU Library. She has also worked in the libraries of the Irish Film Institute, Fingal County Council, Maynooth University and Trinity College Dublin.  

Francisa Silva 

Francisca holds a first-class honours MSc in Information and Library Management from Dublin Business School and a Masters in Political Science and International Relations from Portugal. While working as a part-time Library Assistant, she was awarded third place in the LIR Show and Tell 2023 competition. She is now eResources Librarian at DBS, where she manages the library website and oversees all online resources, while also serving as a Senior Editor for the Applied Research and Theory Journal. Her work at DBS has sparked a strong interest in digital accessibility.

Nadina Yedid 

Nadina Yedid has a Master’s degree in Digital Libraries and Information Resources, from the Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (Spain), and a Bachelor’s degree in Library and Information Science from the Universidad de Buenos Aires (Argentina). 

She currently holds the role of Assistant Librarian at Children’s Health Ireland at Crumlin, where she is in charge of managing the library systems and access to electronic resources. Prior to that, she worked as Assistant Librarian at the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland, and at the Supreme Court of Justice of Argentina.