Established as National Institute for Higher Education (NIHE) in 1980, Dublin City University (DCU) now has a user population of some 9,000 students. A feature of this new university has been a strong commitment to staff training and development. The library, which employes 60 staff, 28 full-time, the remainder part-time, has embraced this philosophy and commitment. A formal staff development policy has been produced. An induction programme and a mentoring system for new staff are in operation. In the summer of 1999 it was decided to further explore staff development opportunities by piloting an in-house programme specifically designed for all library assistants. This programme was initiated by the head of reader services, delivered by assistant librarians and co-ordinated by a senior library assistant. This article examines the framework in which this programme took place, the issues raised and the outcomes.