I am Klára Horváth, and I am the librarian of the Social Science Technical Library of the University of Pécs. I retired in 2021, as I turned 65, but I continue to work in the library. I have spent most of my career in an academic library, but I also worked in a public library. I have been working in the University Library of PTE for 22 years. I started in 2000 in the Faculty Library of Humanities and Sciences, and in 2006, I joined the Social Science Technical Library. Here I have had and still have great colleagues, I foster excellent contacts with the institutes, the teachers, the staff and, of course, the students on the Rókus Street campus. Over the years, I have become not only colleagues but also friends with many of them. It makes me happy when an old colleague or a student who has already graduated drops in to see me. This is also a confirmation for me, because they remember me with a good heart and friendship.

The library has organised many joint programmes with the Institute of History, from book launches to an exhibition of student photographs. We also organise and run the launch of the new books of the MOSZT (Historical Research Group of Modern Russia and the Soviet Union).

I have often been asked what the librarian profession means to me, and why it is good to be a librarian. It means my life journey.  I have been able to work in an environment that I like, doing what I enjoy for more than 40 years. Do you need more than that? Every librarian feels that it is „good” to be a librarian for different reasons. It is this profession I feel truly at home. I love the variety and my colleagues. I feel lucky because I work in a very good team. And variety is my life. I always look for new things, it is important for me to have a different challenge every time. That is why I always study something new, and why I have always had something else to do besides the library. New projects always find me. I never have to look for them. I look forward to opportunities with curiosity and an open mind, and when they come, I will try to make the best of them and of myself. I like being a "university citizen" as the university gives not only the students but also the people who work here a lot of advantages that would be a shame to miss. Professional and cultural events, conferences, an exciting and interesting doctoral thesis, "Open University", "Academy of Humanities" and so on, all provide a vibrant intellectual atmosphere in which I feel comfortable.

Horváth Klára Erika

 

librarian

Social Science Technical Library

University of Pécs Library and Knowledge Centre