[Editor’s note: In this series, we are shining a light on our workforce in and around the Benelux. This Spotlight is on Dan O’Riley, USAG Benelux in Brussels supervisory librarian, who serves the community through his work at the library and musical skills as a pianist.]

BRUSSELS, Belgium – For Army librarian Dan O’Riley, the USAG Benelux in Brussels library is more than just a place to check out books, it’s a focal point for the Brussels military community that serves as a hub of learning and support for Families.

“The library goes beyond books. To be a librarian today, it’s about reaching out, taking care of people and meeting their needs … especially Families that are incoming and outgoing,” said O’Riley. “Families don’t arrive with all their belongings and they may not have computer access. We have computer workstations where they can go in and print out stuff, or they may just need some advice about the community.”

O’Riley likes to call his facility “a library of things” because in addition to books, patrons can check out movies, music, audio books, baking pans, portable roll-out keyboards and even a ukulele. All together he estimates the library of things at Brussels Main contains more than 23,000 items. But for O’Riley and his team, the library is more than just a place of things to be checked out and borrowed, it also serves as the heart of the Benelux community in Brussels that brings people together with lots of activities and services to enjoy.

“We’re a small community here, but we average about 1,500 books a month circulating,” said O’Riley. But we also have days where kids can come and build things, like puzzle days and Lego build days where they can come and build whatever they like.”

And while the library offers a lot of different activities, there is one in particular that has a special place in O’Riley’s heart … storytime. O’Riley picks a fun children’s story and reads the story to a group of kids using various character voices and accents the story by playing music on a piano keyboard. In addition to the creativity of the various voices he employs, O’Riley gets to make use his extensive piano playing skills and share his love of music with the community anywhere from four to 20 times a month, depending on the time of year.

It’s O’Riley’s piano skills and career as an Army musician that originally brought him to the Benelux in 2007 for an assignment with the SHAPE International Band. His experiences traveling Europe with the SHAPE band were some of the highlights in O’Riley’s 21-year Army career.

“It was a really fun gig and we were musical ambassadors for the Supreme Allied Commander Europe and for NATO,” said O’Riley. In addition to performing in Allied countries such as Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Poland and France, the band also made a special trip to Kiev, Ukraine in 2008 to play music with the Ukrainian military band in celebration of partnership and cooperation with NATO, he said.

In early 2010, O’Riley retired from the military as a Sergeant First Class and returned to the U.S. for several years to work as a schoolteacher. However, his love for Belgium and a Belgian woman (who would later become his wife), brought him full circle back to SHAPE in 2017.

O’Riley eventually found a part-time job at the SHAPE International Library and later advanced to become a full-time library technician at Chièvres Air Base. After earning a Master of Science degree in Library and Information Science from Syracuse University, O’Riley became a supervisory librarian at the USAG Benelux in Brussels library in 2022.

In addition to performing the piano during the library’s Storytime sessions, he is also part of a local band called the Ramblers, comprised of members who work at various Benelux organizations such as Department of Defense Education Activity Europe and the Brussels Health Clinic. The band plays at various Chièvres Air Base and SHAPE community activities such as SHAPE Fest and Make-a-Wish charity events.

Whether working to manage the “library of things” or the activities that the library provides, O’Riley and his staff are focused on helping members of the Brussels community with the variety of tools at their disposal.

“The best thing about working at the library is communicating with people and helping them out,” said O’Riley. “The joy is helping someone solve a problem. We are information responders who want to help enrich people and empower them to use a resource and find a solution.”

This Spotlight series will continue to tell the stories of our workforce in and around the Benelux. We are the Army’s home – we are IMCOM.