'I see the sun rising on the ancient college buildings'

Dubliner Anne Murray has been Deputy Librarian of Cambridge University Library for the past eight years, surrounded by some eight million books on 100 miles of shelves as well as extraordinary collections of manuscripts. "I'm very fortunate to work in such an inspiring environment," she says.

From Butterfield Avenue in Templeogue, Murray graduated in 1984 from Trinity College Dublin with a BA in history, then did a diploma in library and information studies at UCD, followed by a master's degree in communication and cultural studies at DCU.

While working as a sub-librarian in Trinity, she applied for the post of Deputy Librarian in Cambridge and, much to her surprise, she got it.

"When I came over here in February 2000, I didn't know anybody. I was fortunate, however, that Wolfson College offered me a fellowship, which helped me to get settled in. Since then I've never looked back."

Murray was subsequently elected vice-president of Wolfson in 2005, but had to resign two years later when she married the college's Dean and Senior Tutor, Welshman David Jarvis, to avoid any conflict of interest. By then, she was well established at the University Library, a massive brick pile from the early 1930s designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott.

One of the leading libraries of the world, it serves as the university's principal place for research. It is also one of the six institutions - the others being Oxford, the British Library, the national libraries of Scotland and Wales, and TCD - entitled by statute to receive a free copy of every book published in these islands.

"Actually, Cambridge has over 100 libraries. Every college has its own, as do all the faculties and departments, so there's no shortage of books," she says. "Magdalene has Pepys' library and Trinity holds AA Milne's wonderful manuscripts of Winnie the Pooh."

The University Library also has a treasure trove of ancient texts, including Chinese oracle bones dating from 1400 to 1200 BC, Charles Darwin's letters and Isaac Newton's own copy of the Principia.

Currently, it is running an exhibition on the life and work of John Milton, another Cambridge graduate, to mark the 400th anniversary of his birth.

"Here I am, working in the middle of it all," says Murray, who walks to work every day from her home off Huntington Road. "It's an incredible place to live. I could be walking home in the evening through Clare College, see the sun setting on the ancient college buildings, with the sound of Evensong from King's College Chapel. That makes it really special."

She would not hesitate to recommend Cambridge as a place to study. "Some people come here as undergraduates and never leave. The drop-out rate is so low here, less than 2 per cent, because of the tutor system that the colleges provide. So no student in Cambridge is anonymous."