SAMANTHA MCCOMBE

CLASS OF 1990

Librarian, The Linen Hall

I am proud to have attended Belfast High and look back on my time there with great fondness. I worked hard and found subjects I was enthused by in large part thanks to teachers who were passionate about their subjects who instilled in me a love of literature, history and politics which continued into university and my working life.

I feel one of the strengths of Belfast High is that it is a place for everyone. Academic achievement is valued as it should be, but so is sport, music and drama. There was a well-rounded and balanced approach and while I can still quote huge swathes of Hamlet, I can also recall my first trip to the theatre thanks to the school, and the feeling of anticipation sitting in the dark waiting for the curtain to open.

Not only did Belfast High give me a very good education and extracurricular opportunities I would not otherwise have experienced, it also equipped me with life skills and planted the seed of my future career as I was lucky to be able to volunteer in the school library and to undertake my school work experience in Carrickfergus public library. And having been encouraged by a teacher to visit the Linen Hall, I remember thinking it would be an amazing place to work – it just took me 25 years to get there!

Those intervening years were taken up with gaining my MA in English Literature at the University of Glasgow, and my MSc in Information Management at Queen’s, and building my career working for Strathclyde Uni, Queen’s Science Library, the Northern Ireland Assembly Library, the Bar Library and law firm Allen & Overy. I am now the 22nd Librarian of the Linen Hall – founded in 1788, the oldest library in Belfast, with world-renowned collections and archives – and as the first woman to hold the post I will always be a footnote in its history.

I feel very privileged to have such a varied and interesting career – and all thanks to my time at Belfast High.